The Heroine and the Hatter
by ArdelliaBlade
Summary: Finally!" Yes, awesome line Hatter, but we wanted to know more. What happened next? A look at what might happen after Hatter finds himself in the world of the Oysters. Alice/Hatter
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters in this chapter are mine. They all belong to the Syfy Channel (I hate the new spelling of that...). The story of _Alice_, also belongs to said channel, as well as anything that might remotely look like a good idea. Well, that's not entirely true, I have good ideas sometimes. And of course to Lewis Carroll for creating an Alice that we could follow through the Looking Glass, even all these years later.

* * *

**Meeting Mom**

It was probably a good thing, Hatter mused, that he had been able to talk to Carol before Alice woke up at the hospital. He had been able to tell her that his name was David Hatter, just incase Alice ever felt the urge to call him by his nickname.

Yes, people called him "Hatter" but it wasn't really his name at all. David, sadly was. His mother had been an avid gossip, and her favorite topic had been the Heart family. When they named their son "Jack" (a terribly Oyster name in his opinion) she had decided that an Oyster name would be best for her expected child as well.

But who cared about a name anyway? At least that's what he thought.

Carol apparently cared. The fact that his name was not Jack Chase and he was not the terribly (or just revoltingly) handsome man that she had met just hours before who had proposed to her little girl meant that Carol cared a great deal.

After that first, wonderful kiss, Carol almost refused to look at him. She was polite enough when they spoke, but it was Alice who carried the conversation.

* * *

"Hatter…umm… I mean David, went to school with Jack." Alice mumbled. Her mother simply was not going to buy the fact that she had thrown herself into some random construction worker's arms. Alice's eyes drifted back to Hatter. She hadn't known that his hair was capable of laying flat, instead of flying out under the brim of his hat. Blearily she wondered where exactly his hat was…

* * *

"Yeah, Jack's a great guy. Made the mistake of introducing me to Alice though." Hatter grinned widely at Carol, who did not seem to be buying a word that either of them were saying. Well, he had just basically implied that he had the hots for her daughter while she was supposedly with another man (true) and that it was Jack's fault that they had met (also true, but with a slight spin on things). A man simply did not play against both the Suits and the Resistance by telling the absolute truth, now did he?

He noticed Alice's eyes start to glaze over. That girl had been busy. Saving Wonderland had not been an easy task, even if it was not exactly what she had set out to do. She had lost her father again… Hatter started to wonder if this really was the right time to try to be getting into a relationship with her. After all, she had just turned down Jack's proposal, twice if what he heard was correct.

He wanted to be prudent, wise… alright, he wanted to kiss her so hard that her mother ran from the room to find something large to hit him with, but that didn't mean he would do it.

"Umm… I think I had better go." Hatter had the feeling that at this point it was Carol who was thinking: _Finally!_

He extracted himself with little effort from the Hamilton household. Alice really was too tired to fight against his retreat. Frankly, he was a bit surprised that she had greeted him with so much energy after the shape in which he had found her laying beside the Looking Glass.

He walked back to the construction sight and pulled a blanket over himself. At least he had had the foresight to pack for his trip to win Alice's heart. Now if only he had taken her strange money when she had offered it…

Hatter fell asleep dreaming of a young girl wearing a pretty blue dress and following a strangely colored cat through a forest.

* * *

Alice woke up in her own room, not a hospital or in Charlie's strange white cast iron bed. She felt sheets under her body that were not covered with leaves. Her pillow smelled like the detergent that she and her mother had used for years. She was back to worrying that it had all been a dream. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland lay on the nightstand beside her bed, challenging her to think that it had all been a dream. But certainly the Alice in the story had never woken up from having a distinctly not childish dream about the Mad Hatter.

She stretched, her body aching in a thousand different places, just in case she needed to be reassured that she had not imagined her trip to Wonderland. Who could have dreamed anything so strange anyway?

Alice got up and made her way into the bathroom, excited for the simple pleasure of having a shower to start off the day. Her visit to Wonderland hadn't been so bad, except for no showers, Jabberwocks, a crazy queen, an entire city with random drop offs… ok, Wonderland had been a bit too much. But there were some parts of it she absolutely liked; such as the idea that she might soon be getting another kiss from a certain "David" Hatter.

A note on the bathroom mirror reminded her of the doctor's orders that she was not to teach any karate classes for at least the next two days. The extra money would have been nice, but tracking down Hatter would be even better.

During her shower, she planned what she was going to do. Hatter couldn't have gone far the night before. Why hadn't she thought to tell her mother he should stay? Because Carol had so obviously been mystified as to why her daughter who could have married Jack Chase (Heart, Alice amended) could move on so quickly to a kind, if scruffy construction worker. Alice laughed outright at the idea of Hatter working construction. His hat may have been yellow, but it was definitely not a hard hat.

Construction… that sparked her memory. Hatter had posed as a construction worker to explain why he had found her and brought her to the hospital. (Thank goodness that hospitals existed in both worlds.) He was probably somewhere near the Looking Glass, or back through the Looking Glass. Maybe her world hadn't been what he expected. Maybe the novelty of kissing an Oyster extended to any Oyster. No, this was the type of thinking that had caused to run away from men before (a lot).

She dressed quickly, carefully choosing not to wear blue. Maybe red, or tan, Hatter seemed to like those colors, or maybe she was just judging that from his clothes. She realized just how little she knew about him. She probably knew more truth about Jack than she did about Hatter. But that hardly mattered.

Alice slid into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt. Finally, freedom of movement. She sighed. It would be nice to not have to run all over a country being chased or fighting. She would have plenty of time to get to know Hatter if everything went well in the next couple of days.

Finding out which construction sight the Looking Glass was at proved trickier. There were seven within just a few blocks of her apartment. Running after Agent White had not given her much opportunity to check for directions in her original mad dash to save Jack.

* * *

**AN:**

Leave it to Syfy to create a batch of characters that I can't possibly leave to their own devices. Nope, too much meddling to be done here. So, time to work on a multi-part fic and hope that everything goes well. I am a firm Alice/Hatter shipper so, I just had to see where their relationship might go.

Any questions, ideas for the story, comments, or fan-talk about the show? There is a review button for a reason.


	2. Too Many Clothes

**Disclaimer: **I do not, nor will I ever own the characters, ideas and references made in this story. Syfy channel and Lewis Carroll hold those privileges.

---

**Too Many Clothes**

Hatter woke up to creaking sounds. If the Tea Shoppe patrons were trying to make their way into his private office again… He jerked fully awake. The shop had been ransacked, there was no place for him to work or live and he was on the other side of the damned Glass. He was surrounded by Oysters. This thought caused him a moment's alarm. What if they knew what happened to them in his world? No… he calmed, Alice hadn't had a clue that Wonderland even existed, why should anyone else?

---

"There you are Hatter." Alice's voice rang out, echoing slightly in the wide open building. He looked up with a smile from his nest of clothes and the overly large blanket he was curled up under.

It looked like the man had brought his entire wardrobe with him. She even thought she spotted the sleeve of the velvet coat she had worn. And men thought women were obsessed with their clothes. She should have realized that Hatter would be, after all the man was named after his hat. (She didn't believe for an instant the lie he had told about people calling him "Hatter" for his generosity.)

She smiled and held out a hand to help him out of the mound of clothes.

"You know, you could have just asked for money and gotten a hotel room or something." He looked a little rumpled, but no where near as bad as he had after getting shot.

"And put a stain on the good name of construction workers everywhere? I think not. Your mother looked fit to boil me as it was." Alice coughed slightly at the phrase to keep from laughing, after all the times she had been called "Oyster" in Wonderland, the idea of Hatter getting boiled was a bit amusing.

He sent her one of his half smiles that mad her insides burn. Could she really fall in love so fast? She had thought so before, but maybe… No, she would focus on being with Hatter when she was with Hatter, not with how she might end up not with Hatter.

"So, David…" She tried out the name carefully. She had used it the night before, but it just didn't seem to fit him at all.

He grimaced.

"Please don't call me that." She gazed with a bit of admiration at his backside as he bent down to start folding up his clothing to put in the oversized suitcase she hadn't noticed earlier. "It is my real name, if you were wondering though." He sounded sincere, which was not at all unusual for Hatter, but she found that this time she believed him. After all, if he had to pick a name, it would have been one with more flash than "David" had.

---

Loaded with one gigantic suitcase (how did everything fit in there?) she and Hatter left the construction site. She almost felt as if someone were watching them from behind the Looking Glass, but that was silly, even on the other side, the Looking Glass just reflected back the room it was in. With one parting wish that everything was going alright with Jack's assent to power, she led Hatter to her dojo.

Dojo might not have been exactly the right word. It was more of a studio, but she had been trying for years to get her students to treat the space as they would a proper dojo, and she intended to keep calling it that.

The room was bare, with just a pile of blue mats in the corner from where she and Jack had put them after that last lesson. It was strange to think that Jack had been the last person in that room with her, and now Hatter was there.

"A bit bare, isn't it?" He looked quizzically around, as if trying to figure out where she had hidden all the furniture.

She smiled at him before tossing the suitcase over towards the mats. He lurched forward.

"Hey! That's my stuff." The look on Hatter's face made it seem as if she had just kicked a puppy, or whatever was the Wonderland equivalent (certainly not that creepy cat, she thought with a shudder). She couldn't see the problem. Clothes didn't damage easily, at least not that easily.

---

Hatter opened the suitcase, trying to make sure that nothing had been ripped or smashed. He thanked everything he thought of as holy that his hat had been on his head and not in the bag. Some of the clothes had already suffered at the hands of Mad March and his cronies. There were rips in some shirts, and a bullet hole in at least one. A pair of pants had been torn nearly in two in the wreckage of the Tea Shoppe. The clothes were the only things he had of Wonderland for the time being.

"Sorry, I guess." Alice seemed genuinely contrite, a new look for her, but one he could manage. It actually made her look, cute. Now that was a strange thought.

Alice, cute? No, that was a bit too mind boggling. Alice as sexy he could see. Alice as a powerful woman capable of probably turning him ass over ears, definitely. But Alice as cute was just too strange.

He shook himself, wondering if there was a Cheshire nearby. Those things always made him feel as if someone were dancing on his grave.

"Well, you'll just have to make it up to me." He announced grandly, flopping onto the pile of blue mats.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Hatter liked the fact that he could keep her attention now. Previously everything had been about Jack. Now it would be about him.

"Pizza."

---

**AN: **

It struck me that if Hatter were going to come to our world, he would bring his clothes with him. They were displayed quite prominently in his introduction scene, so I figured that clothes and appearances were important to him, like they are to people who try to play certain roles in their lives. A doctor wears a lab coat, a lawyer wears suits, an up and coming business owner and con-artist wears nice clothes by the standards of his society. Ever notice how nice his clothes stay during the entire four hours of the event?

Also, David? I figured that Hatter would have a reason for calling himself David. I couldn't resist making it his real name.

Any comments, concerns, questions? The review button beckons to you.


	3. Pepperoni and Passion?

**Disclaimer: **Syfy owns _Alice_, I just own the plot bunnies, or hares…

---

**Pepperoni and Passion?**

Hatter noticed that somewhere along the line, Alice had stolen back his coat. She wore it now as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It had pleased him to see her wearing it in Wonderland. But here, it almost made him believe that she was claiming him as hers. Not that he had any problem with that.

He wondered if he could slip his hand into hers, or something so grossly juvenile. He had done that with girls when he had been young, before _tea_ had come into vogue. People in Wonderland had stopped interacting with each other, at least in search of good emotions, those had been readily available to the highest bidder. Anyway, he had no clue what Oysters liked.

He could tell that even here, Alice was considered pretty. Men slowed down a bit to watch her walk by and he could have sworn that one glanced back at her butt before continuing on his way. How was a con-man like him supposed to woo a girl like her? The kissing had been good enough, but that was kissing, and he knew he did that well.

It irked him to think that maybe he should have asked Jack (wonderful King Jack Heart) what she liked. But he doubted that the Card would have helped him anyway.

A warm, small hand slid into his and Alice smiled at him. (See, he didn't need Jack's help.) He smiled back at her, following her through the streets of the city that she called home.

---

The pizza place was loud. It reminded her so much of the Tea Shoppe that she had to smile. At least there were no screens displaying the cost of each item, just menus. She handed one to Hatter as they sat down.

"Anything you want, just not Canadian bacon." She could eat just about anything else on her pizza, but for some reason, Canadian bacon was one of those things she could only eat for breakfast.

Not that it wasn't still breakfast time (according to her cell phone). It was only eleven thirty and the place was already packed. That was one of the reasons she loved Tom's Pizza. You could tell that a restaurant's food was good if it had a loyal mob demanding its product every morning as soon as it opened.

---

Hatter started to open his mouth to ask what a Canadian was and how bacon came from it. He wondered if it was anything like the stuff that Charlie had made for them. Thankfully the pictures in the menu helped him make a decision.

Soon the server had brought out a large pepperoni pizza. She sliced it expertly and dished a piece out onto each plate.

"And the round things?" Hatter asked.

"Those are the pepperoni." He wondered how long it would entertain Alice to explain her world. But he had spent hours explaining things to her in his, so it was fair enough.

He plucked a pepperoni off his slice and shoved it in his mouth. Yes, pepperoni was a word that he was going to have to remember.

---

Alice watched as he savored the flavor. It was a bit cute to see him like that. His eyes were closed and she could see smudges where he had obviously rubbed at his eyes. It seemed that eyeliner in either world still smeared.

He opened his eyes again. Alice grinned. His top two teeth were sticking out from between his lips as he considered the slice before him.

Cute, yes, Hatter was cute. But, she decided as he shoved the pizza into his mouth with a look of pure ecstasy on his face, he could be damned hot too.

---

"Are you going to eat that?" Her eyes widened. Hatter had barely allowed her to consume her original piece, and now he was moving in on her second? No way.

"Umm… how about I order another?"

---

It was almost like being on a date. Being on a date with Hatter. That was something that she hadn't expected when he showed up at her apartment. But it made sense. Just because he showed up didn't mean that their relationship was suddenly going to turn into a wedding with a happily-ever-after to go with it. If she had thought her relationship with Jack was fast, that would have just been ridiculous.

As she watched him work his way through a second pizza, she admired him. Sure, he had slept on the floor in an abandoned construction site. He was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, but he was still someone that she was happy to be seen with. He didn't even smell as bad as most people did after just an hour or two at one of her karate classes.

Suddenly her imagination ran wild, considering what she would do if Hatter was in one of her classes. He would learn to fight, unlike Jack. The idea of him in all white was a bit odd, but she realized, it would only emphasize how dark his hair was and glimpses of his chest offered while fighting… well, she could imagine.

She drew out of her contemplation of him when she noticed other people looking his way as well. It was the hat, she realized suddenly. People were looking at him because of the hat. Well, let them look. The hat was pretty much a part of him, and there was no way that she was going to tell him to take it off just because it wasn't in style here. Heck, maybe it hadn't even been in style in Wonderland.

And that thought kept her amused for the rest of the meal.

---

**AN: **

I just had to show them going out for pizza. It makes a wonderful "first" date and since they talked about it in the show, it seemed like it needed to be done. Also, I think of Alice as a girl who is pretty sure about her own attraction to guys and who isn't afraid of acting on it. This seems to be supported by the show in her flirtations with Jack at the beginning.

Comments? Questions? Mistakes you caught while reading? I love to hear from you all.


	4. Hatter's Mad Scheme

**Disclaimer: **Alice and all affiliated names and characters belong to Syfy. If you however want to crown me Queen of Wonderland, I'll make sure that our lovely Hatter hands out some biscuits and tea.

---

**Hatter's Mad Scheme**

Alice paid for the meal, leaving a generous tip, even if by the end, the waitress had been leering openly in Hatter's direction. The money was a bit crumbled, but it was the same money that she had offered to pay Hatter with just a few days before. It seemed right to use it to feed him now he was in her world. He had done his part to make sure that she could rescue Jack, even if the man hadn't needed it.

---

"So that stuff really is money." He said softly, looking at the green bills that she had thrown on the table. "And here I thought Ratty was just playing a prank." He considered the little pieces of cloth and paper.

_I need to get some of that_, he thought to himself. Then he could buy her things, or better yet, find somewhere to sleep. A man had to have his priorities straight after all.

"Nope, no prank." She held out her hand for him again. He took it with a smile.

"Good, because I have an idea." He had started a business once before. Hatter freely admitted his own intelligence. He had started the Tea Shoppe single handedly, only bringing Dormie in later. Once he understood how people interacted and what they wanted, he would be able to set up shop again, admittedly a bit more legal this time.

---

An idea from Hatter seemed a bit dangerous. But, she had to admit, he was adjusting rather well to her world. No freak-outs or massive social faux-pas. Not at all what she would have done if she hadn't shown up in Wonderland with a firm objective in mind.

She decided that it was probably better not to ask the former (she hoped) con-man about his plan. If it wasn't completely legal, she could always claim she didn't know about it.

Legality… oh shit. How was she supposed to make Hatter legally exist in her world? Yeah he was flesh and blood, but he couldn't exactly get a job without any social security number or an address. At least he could put her address on applications and she could probably buy him a cell phone, but a social security number was something entirely different. He didn't even have a birth certificate as far as she knew.

Had Jack had this problem? Or had the Resistance taken care of it when they sent him to meet her? There were still too many things she didn't know.

They walked back to the dojo in silence, each one considering a different set of problems.

---

She had to find Hatter another place to stay in the next few days. Sleeping at the dojo would be alright for now, since her classes were canceled, but once they started again Hatter's stuff needed to be somewhere else.

Alice unlocked the door to the dojo. Maybe one of her students was in need of a room mate? She would have to ask during the next class.

Hatter made his way over to the mats, seeming intent on lounging on them after his amazing display of gastronomical strength. No man should be able to eat most of two large Tom's pizzas by himself.

She sat beside him in silence, willing to let him start the conversation if he wanted.

---

Now, if Hatter could accumulate start up funds off the sale of the Tea Shoppe property, he would probably be able to earn something with enough value that he could convince a friend to change into something of value in this world. With the Resistance at an end and Jack on the throne, the city might become a community again. No more people waiting around tea shops for their next emotional high.

The property value could only increase, but he needed the capital now. He might be able to borrow some of the furniture Mad March hadn't destroyed. Yes, it would work out. All that was needed was to do a bit more research.

---

So, Hatter wasn't going to start a conversation. That was fine. Sitting quietly was good… Who was she kidding? Sitting quietly is what she had done after her father left (was taken, she corrected herself). Now she was a girl who preferred action, motion, anything to sitting.

"I think my mom likes you." Alice commented, hoping to draw Hatter out of his thoughts. He sat up straighter.

"If by 'like' you mean 'wants to feed me to the Jabberwockies,' then I'll have to agree with you." Her mouth dropped open.

"She said that you were nice." Hatter's hat spun down his arm in a complex trick.

"'Nice', wow, I think I've earned a medal or something." The hat flew back up to land on his head. "Alice, she expected Jack last night, not me. And saying that I was his friend only made it worse." He looked a bit sad and Alice realized she wanted her happy and sometimes crazy Hatter back.

And suddenly it made sense. Her mother didn't know what Alice knew. They had blown it. Now her mother thought she had turned down Jack's proposal because Alice had been cheating on him with Hatter, not knowing that Jack was already engaged to Duchess. And who knew what Carol thought about the fact that Hatter had "found" her while she was unconscious at a construction site.

Why could her life never be simple?

"We'll explain it to her. Or, better yet, I get Jack and _he_ can explain it to her. He has to owe me something after what I did."

---

The idea was a bit far-fetched. Jack probably had other things to be doing now that he was king. But Hatter had some questions and favors to ask of him as well.

"Care for a trip back through the Looking Glass?" He asked casually.

---

**AN:**

So, a plot line now exists, and I seem to have followed it down the rabbit-hole, or in this case just through the Looking Glass.

Paperwork makes the world go round according to most countries. The fact that Hatter has absolutely no proof of anything is a significant problem if he wants to fit into our society.

I'm assuming that Alice is from the United States, judging by her comment about money being "bucks" in the first segment (even if the actress is Canadian). But what city do you think she lives in? There was a trolley early on, but it didn't look like a cable car. I was thinking it might be Chicago or New York, since some of the architecture looks a bit old for L.A.

Questions, comments, or problems you caught that I didn't, I want to hear them all.


	5. An Interlude

**Disclaimer: **Alice is owned by Syfy and Lewis Carroll _still_. Since I seem to be lacking an army to take over Wonderland, I have to admit that fact.

**Dedication:** For JenniferBroadway since she mentioned that it wouldn't be bad to see some kissing.

---

**An Interlude**

"No." After all that had happened the last time she fell through that mirror, she was a bit afraid. Time was different there, things were different. And who knew how much luck Jack was having getting Wonderland back in order.

---

"Can't we just spend some time here?" She asked, sounding a lot more vulnerable than Hatter had ever heard her before, except when she had spoken to her father.

He relaxed. It didn't sound like she never wanted to go back to Wonderland, just not now. He understood that well enough. Who knew if the Resistance actually knew they had won the battle yet? Dodo's men might still be after him if he passed back through the Glass.

His arm snaked around Alice's shoulder, slowly enough to give her time to move away. Thankfully, she didn't.

They sat like that for hours, not talking, not even kissing, but just sitting together in silence. It was peaceful, and he hadn't known that Alice even_ liked_ peaceful.

---

Alice had fallen asleep, curled up in his arms. It was wonderful not to have to do anything with a guy. She didn't have to prove that she was attracted to Hatter. She didn't have to prove that she was stronger than him. Hatter had accepted her through their journeys together in Wonderland. And now it was time to just be, no rushing into things for once, no focusing on a future that may or may not happen. With Hatter, she could finally just sit still and not feel as if there was something that she needed to be doing. She was with Hatter and for the moment that was enough.

And so she slept, better than she had in the hospital, or in her own bed, because the scent of Hatter filled her nose. Peppermint, spice and that wonderful, unnamable scent of a man that made her feel protected.

---

Soon after Alice fell asleep, Hatter felt his eyes drift closed. The images of the refugees haunted him. Had anyone thought to tell them that they were finally free to leave the Library? His heart raced as he watched Dodo (a man he had respected, even if he didn't trust him) pull the trigger.

Over and over he felt the bullet hit. If he had any say in it, Alice would never know just how much that one action had hurt him, even if it had only left a bruise.

That's when he had fallen for her: the moment that she refused to hit that blue button and came running back to save him.

As soon as Alice invaded his dreams, forcing Dodo away from him, Hatter's tension eased. His body pressed against the warm, terrifying girl in his arms and he sighed with contentment.

---

Something scratched Alice's cheek as she shifted closer to the warmth beside her. She opened her eyes. Hatter's jaw and nose were all she could see. Somehow her head had ended up on his chest, not that she minded at all.

She wanted to kiss the tip of his nose, rub her cheek against the start of his beard and then kiss him. Alice wondered what his eyes would look like if she woke him up that way. Could those chocolate brown eyes get any darker?

Biting her lip, Alice tried to think of something else (anything else). Where should she take Hatter for their second date? Some people might count pizza and then anything else they did tonight as one date, but it felt important to Alice that they be considered two dates. After all, her mother would probably accept Hatter a bit more quickly if Alice explained that she had been on multiple dates with the man.

_Who was she fooling?_ Alice wondered to herself. Her mother would get used to Hatter eventually no matter if she wanted to or not. Alice had no intention of running away from this man. He had already followed her through the Looking Glass.

Giving into her impulses had gotten her a first kiss with Hatter. Now giving in would give her a second one.

She rubbed her face against his. Never before had she dated a guy who allowed himself facial hair. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure if any of her ex-boyfriends even could grow facial hair. Hatter seemed older, more mature than any of the men she had dated except for Jack. Hatter… mature… she felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward.

Her gentle kiss to the tip of his nose failed to wake him. But as soon as her lips closed over that Cupid 's bow mouth of his, she felt him begin to stir.

His arms tightened their hold on her and his eyes snapped open.

They were darker, nearly black. Cute would have been a word she would normally use to describe Hatter. But the look in his eyes, coupled with his lips on hers… Mature definitely didn't cut it. Hatter was a man, from the creases in his brow to the stubble on his chin and the look in his eyes only confirmed that.

He kissed her slowly, thoughtfully and if his mouth still tasted like pizza, she found she didn't mind.

---

Hatter wanted her. An entire bottle of _Lust_ couldn't have made him feel this way. He had never needed any other woman in the way that he felt for Alice.

He ended the kiss, nipping gently at her lips.

"Well," he began, his voice husky, "care to show me more of your world?" He rubbed the palms of his hands in his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.

If Alice looked a bit disappointed, he tried not to think of it. She might have forgotten Jack Heart so quickly, but Hatter wouldn't. She might still decide that being Queen of Wonderland would be better than living in her world with a former tea shop owner and smuggler.

"Actually, do you have bathrooms here?" He felt disgusting, sweaty and stale from sleeping for so long. His hair felt greasy and was flopping down into his face instead of defying gravity like usual.

---

Alice thanked her lucky stars that her mom was at the gallery. It made sneaking Hatter into the apartment less like actual sneaking.

She sat in her room, trying not to think about the fact that Hatter was in her bathroom, literally taking a bath. She ignored the splashes and the faint cursing that she heard through the wall. Or at least she tried to.

He emerged from the bathroom, thankfully fully dressed. His hair looked damp and his usual smell of peppermint was partially overpowered by the combination of her shampoo and her mother's mousse. Hatter had even found her eyeliner.

She grinned at him. The clothes were ones she had seen in the suitcase, but never on him before. His black pants looked almost like jeans and his shirt was a soft brown with a dark green paisley motif that looked more than a bit like the mark that had been burned on her skin by the Scarab lights.

---

"You ready?" Alice asked. She looked as if she were trying to be innocent.

"Why do I have a very bad feeling about this?" She was going to get him in trouble again. He had stayed out of trouble very well on his own. But this girl seemed keen on making him die of a heart attack before his next birthday.

---

**AN: **

Insert semi-mandatory kissing scene. Syfy denied us so often during the show that I had to make up for it at least a little bit.

I don't exactly know why Hatter smells like peppermint in this fic. I guess I just wanted there to be something a tiny bit childish about him, since he is based on the Mad Hatter.

Finally, this fic was supposed to 10,000 words long and have a relatively simple plot line. But as I passed word 10,000 last night while planning out the rough drafts of the next few chapters, I drew a Cheshire Cat in my notebook followed by the phrase "Cheshire ate the plot bunnies and has replaced them with a herd of Jabberwockies…" and then came the plot outlines for a bunch more chapters.

I always love to read reviews (they make me happy and eager to write more). So, keep the author happy and hit the button.


	6. Alice's Mistake

**Disclaimer: **Syfy owns Alice, Lewis Carroll owns the books, and I just own my brain, at least for the time being.

---

**Alice's Mistake**

The music was loud and pulsing, not at all what he was used to. The beat vibrated in his skull and his chest seemed to ache in time to the music. There were people everywhere, sitting, standing, but most of all, dancing. Nothing was familiar here, except the overly large pair of headphones that he saw a man wearing in a booth near the front of the room.

Everywhere people held glasses of bright liquids or dark draughts. He knew they couldn't be teas, but the Oysters gulped them down with the same single-mindedness that Wonderlanders reserved for their fixes. Even Alice had one, a strange dark amber drink that smelled unlike anything he had ever had.

---

Alice downed her beer, hoping that it would give her the courage to do what she wanted. Getting into the club without I.D.s had been nerve-wracking. It wasn't the type of thing she normally did but thankfully no one had asked to see Hatter's card. She tried to gather her courage.

Ordinarily, she didn't really dance. Fighting was more her thing. But the pulse of the bass and the motion of the crowd drew her in. She grabbed Hatter's hand and dragged him, still looking around in wonder and confusion, to the middle of the dance floor.

---

Dancing surrounded by people was a new experience for Hatter. It was sweaty, smelly and a bit uncomfortable to be caged in on all sides by human bodies. He almost couldn't breathe. The Tea Shoppe had never been this crowded, and never so loud.

He wanted to cover his ears with his hands and block out some of the noise. But that wouldn't work.

Then Alice started dancing.

His eyes widened, trying to catch every detail of her. Her dancing wasn't graceful, the music didn't call for grace. The music was primal, calling on the basest impulses of human nature. And the motions of the dance were as primitive as the beat.

He had to focus on something, anything than the fact that she had moved closer to him. Hatter snatched a drink from the nearest person, gulping it down and hoping that it might impart something like _Innocence_.

He felt lightheaded and dizzy. Too many stimuli were trying to grab his attention. But all thought kept turning back to Alice.

---

She opened her eyes, conscious of the fact that he had stopped moving. He had swayed a little to the beat of the music from the moment they had heard the first strains drifting through the air outside. But now he was completely motionless.

He looked almost vulnerable there, surrounded by the thrashing mob of people.

As much as Alice hated to admit it, she had messed up. A movie would have been a better idea. Anything would have been a better idea. She had wanted to show Hatter that her world could be interesting in its own right. She led him off the dance floor and over to the bar.

---

The music mercifully faded a bit as he followed Alice. People bumped into him, brushing past him and towards their friends. It almost felt as if he was in the Library with all the refugees again.

"Are you ok?" Alice's voice was muted compared to rhythmic pounding of the speakers. How was he supposed to tell her that this music was not at all what he liked, and that he hated crowds? There was a reason he had his own office to retreat to at the Tea Shoppe.

"Me ears are ringin'." He shouted, trying to be heard over the noise.

He watched as Alice ordered another of those dark amber drinks and bought one for him as well. After a sip he realized that it was alcohol, something that had gone out of style in Wonderland when the Hearts had perfected the art of tea extraction ten years before.

They finished their drinks and finally Alice gestured that they were leaving.

Outside, Hatter breathed in the crisp (if smoggy) air greedily. It felt good to fill his lungs with air that didn't carry the suffocating scent of so many people crushed together. The cold air felt good against his burning cheeks as Alice wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry. I thought you would like going clubbing." He smiled at her, trying to make sure that she didn't notice the fact that his hands shook.

"S'alright. But can we go back to Wonderland now?" His voice was almost pleading.

She nodded.

_Finally… _

---

**AN: **

Filler chapter... yum...

I had to throw Hatter into an uncomfortable situation sooner or later. Clubbing seemed like the thing most likely to give him culture shock while still being something that I think Alice would do sometimes.

As for the comments about I.D.s, Hatter obviously doesn't have one and some of the math for Alice doesn't add up for me. One of the interviews stated her age as 23, while in the show I believe she mentions she was ten when her dad left and it had been a little less than eleven years since then. Depending on how close she had been to eleven when he left, she would be over twenty-one. But I needed the club to let Hatter in too, so she didn't really need to show her I.D. if they didn't check his.

Remember to leave reviews. I love them very much!


	7. Through the Looking Glass

**Disclaimer: **Syfy and Lewis Carroll own _Alice_, I'll settle for just owning the plotline for this story.

**---**

**Through the Looking Glass**

Hatter put his hand in Alice's. No matter where they ended up when they stepped through the Glass, they would be there together.

And then they were falling, colors and light on all sides, making Hatter wish he hadn't been drinking shortly before. His stomach felt as if it was being flipped inside out and his hat nearly flew off the top of his head.

They landed in an unceremonious heap. Hatter quickly moved off of Alice, who looked annoyed that once again, she had not had a graceful ending to her trip through the Looking Glass.

"They really should look into making that thing not as dangerous." She muttered under her breath as she dusted off her clothes. Hatter grinned as he overheard. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he had landed just fine when he had gone through to her world. He still questioned how exactly she had managed to knock herself unconscious after she had left Wonderland.

"It's not really all that bad." He readjusted his hat and made certain that the collar of his coat hadn't gotten misaligned during their adventure.

Suddenly they were surrounded by Suits.

"Ok, maybe it is that bad." His Adam's apple bobbed nervously. Sure he and Alice had been instrumental in deposing the Queen of Hearts, but who knew how well her son took rejection.

Maybe they should have thought about things a bit more before rushing back into Wonderland.

"Identify yourselves." commanded a voice that Hatter knew all too well.

"Charlie! It's us!" He answered as a Suit pulled his arms behind his back.

"Alice of Legend? Hatter?" Charlie emerged through a doorframe and Hatter realized that they had literally landed right on the other side of the Looking Glass in the room where the Stone of Wonderland was used to open the mirror.

---

"Release them!" Alice nearly laughed to hear Charlie ordering around the Suits. And there he stood, still in his armor with his mustache and beard in impeccable order as always. The old knight looked a bit confused as the Suits released his friends.

"What are you doing here, Charlie?" She had half expected him to have gone back to his hide out in the woods after the fall of the Casino.

The knight puffed out his chest (not an easy feat when one is wearing a breastplate).

"I am the Knight Commander of the Looking Glass Guard, specially appointed by his majesty, King Heart." Alice beamed with pride at the knight. He deserved some recognition for what he had done to make Wonderland a better place.

---

"Is Jack doing alright?" Hatter grimaced. Back in Wonderland for two minutes and already Alice was worried about Jack Heart again.

"The King has had a lot to do in the past week, closing down tea shops and rounding up the last of the rebel Suits. I understand that there is a portion of the Resistance who don't believe that a monarchy should be allowed." The way Charlie said that last sentence; it made it obvious that to him a monarchy was the only logical form of government.

"Week?" Alice's voice rose to a pitch that hurt Hatter's still buzzing ears. "But it's only been a day."

"Time travels differently in Wonderland." Hatter tried to remind her gently. He didn't think it always passed at the same speed. Sometimes it was slower, sometimes faster than in her world. Everything usually evened out in the end though.

"Yes, a week. His majesty did however leave standing orders to bring you to him if either of you were to ever travel through the Looking Glass again." Charlie didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with this particular order, and Hatter hoped that he was right. The idea of seeing Jack Heart (King Jack Heart) again wasn't very appealing, but there were some things that he needed to discuss with that Card.

---

They traveled by Scarab to a house, further away from the city than even the Casino had been. Hatter had heard stories of the summer residence that the royal family had kept, but no one he knew had ever seen it.

The place was ridiculously opulent, more a palace than a home. It stood alone on a hill, surrounded by an army of topiary knights. Some of them looked so real that they might be able to shed their verdant growth and move with a moment's noticed. Hatter wondered if they reminded Charlie of the army of dead knights that he had brought to scare the Suits at the Casino.

The Scarab landed on the only bare piece of earth in view. And shortly, Alice and Hatter walked up the steps to the main entrance hall of the home of King Heart.

"Compensating…" Hatter blessed the fact that no one else heard his comment above the sound of Charlie's armor creaking and multiple sets of feet pounding on the marble steps.

Inside, the house proved to be even more impressive. The decorations in the house probably dated back to the adventures of Alice of Legend. And yes, just above the fireplace, which he could see from the entry hall, hung a portrait of a young blonde girl. Few people remembered what she looked like, but Hatter immediately recognized that first Alice from long ago.

"Admiring the painting?" Hatter jumped at the sound of the voice, thankful to notice that Alice had done the same. Jack Heart, King of Wonderland and Alice's erstwhile boyfriend walked towards them. Once again he was in that blasted red suit that Hatter privately thought should have been destroyed when the Casino fell. Red was not Jack Heart's color at all. The man was much too cold to wear such a warm color.

But Jack kept walking, signaling that his guests should follow behind him. They walked into the room where the portrait hung, the blue of the girl's dress standing out sharply from the blacks and reds of the room.

"I had my mother's portrait replaced with this one that I found in the attic. Quite astounding really, how little _our_ Alice resembles her." Hatter wanted to take that possessive pronoun and shove it down Jack's throat. But he stopped himself. If his plan was ever going to succeed, he needed Jack's help.

---

Alice noticed how Hatter tensed when Jack said "_our._" It was nice to know that he cared if Jack laid claim to her or not. But it was a bit misguided in her opinion. In her mind, she was well and truly "Hatter's Alice" no matter if she didn't know what exactly that meant yet.

She looked up at the girl who so many people had compared her to in the last few days. There really was nothing similar at all about them. Except that Alice thought she could see a faint hint of stubborn curiosity on the girl's face.

"The painting is beautiful." After years of listening to her mother talk about what makes a good portrait, or any type of good painting, Alice could say this with certainty.

---

"I think what Alice means is that you didn't give Charlie orders to drag us out here just to look at a painting." Hatter moved closer to her, ready to support her or protect her, whatever the situation may be.

"I merely thought that you would find it interesting. After all, you were the one looking at it." The man was cultured, refined and a pain in Hatter's backside. "I suppose that you had a reason for returning to Wonderland?" The words sounded a bit threatening but Hatter doubted Alice would hear them that way.

---

"We need paperwork for Hatter, birth certificate, that type of thing. I assume you had them when the Resistance sent you." The memory still stung. Jack might claim that he had loved her, but she couldn't believe it. Love wasn't something that could be based on lies.

"Quite right." She felt the urge to punch Jack. It was strange, she used to find his smug little smile endearing, now it was just irritating. "I'm sure it would make it quite awkward to be wooing a man that doesn't exist. It might make the wedding a bit difficult. I will be getting an invitation, I assume." Alice's fists clenched. How could he dare insinuate that she would be so quick about getting together with Hatter? And marriage? Maybe sometime in the future, but certainly not anytime soon. Of all people, Jack should be the one to know she wouldn't rush into anything like that.

"Wedding? Alice, you didn't tell me that you were engaged." Charlie sounded completely ignorant of what was going on. "The spirits didn't inform me of this. I must consult them further." His face contorted and he started chanting nonsense syllables.

"We just need the paperwork, Jack." Alice was grateful that Hatter was letting her handle this.

"No. I didn't authorize Hatter's use of the Looking Glass in the first place."

---

**AN:**

And the plot thickens, like a good stew.

I like how different Alice is from the Alice of the books. Alice from the show is a lot stronger, and gets into trouble mostly because she is trying to do the right thing, instead of just being overly curious. I think the Alice from the show would have been like that as a girl, but is older and a bit smarter than her counterpart.

If you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan of Jack. He just looks a bit too stuck-up and he is way too arrogant for his own good. He makes a great villian for the chapter.

Comments, questions, opinions, rants? I want to hear it all.


	8. Striking the Deal

**Disclaimer:** Syfy and Lewis Carroll own everything, unless someone wants to donate mass quantities of money for me to buy the rights to _Alice_.

---

**Striking the Deal**

"What?" Alice looked over to where Hatter was standing. His stance was defiant, but the look on his face was positively gleeful.

"Wasn't that hard. Convinced the guards I was an Oyster. The suitcase was a bit more trouble. Had to tell them it contained my poor dead sister, sucked dry by the Carpenter's evil machines." It took a second, but the bright gleam in his eyes died. Alice cringed at the thought that her father might have caused any deaths while he was in Wonderland. But she didn't doubt that during the ten years that he was gone, some people would have died in the Casino, or during experiments. It still hurt to believe that her father (even without the memory of his family) was capable of doing such things.

It was nice to know that Hatter had defied Jack to sneak into her world. But then why had he been so eager to get back to Wonderland?

"He's a criminal, Alice. You know that, and I know that." Jack's tone was soft, beguiling, and it only served to make Alice even more irate. As far as she was aware, the only way to be a decent person in Wonderland before the fall of the Queen of Hearts was to be a criminal. Hell, even Jack had been considered a danger by his mother.

"Criminal or not, he can help you."

---

Hatter winced. Sure he was a criminal, it made a bit better money than having to work within the Queen's stupid rules. The taxes that the woman had put on teas were incredible, almost highway robbery in their own right. It stung to think that Alice might consider him to be anything less than honest just because he had lied to her a few times, and had ulterior motives… Who was he kidding? She had every right to mistrust him.

"Criminal? I dare say, Hatter." Even Charlie was disappointed in him.

"And how exactly do you suggest that Hatter make himself useful?" Jack pulled a long, thin, hand-rolled cigarette from a case inside his coat pocket. Even as he stuck it in his mouth, Hatter could almost see the king's brain working at high speed in order to turn the situation to his favor.

---

"As a guard. How many people from my world know where the Looking Glass is? Ten, twenty? Now add to that the fact that all the Oysters from the Casino went back through the Glass after me." At least she hoped they had, she hadn't exactly been conscious to find out. "That raises the number probably into the hundreds if what Hatter told me about tea production was right." Hundreds of people could be drained to create a single drop of the most powerful and rare teas.

"You need someone to guard the Looking Glass from my side. Hatter is willing to do that." She hoped he was, anyway.

Jack clicked open a silver lighter and lit the end of his cigarette. Alice added that as another thing that he had lied about. She didn't date guys who smoked.

She watched as he breathed in carefully, exhaling in her direction. He knew it bothered her, that much was obvious.

"I suppose you might be correct."

---

Just _might_? Alice had just presented a brilliant argument as to why Hatter should be allowed to stay in her world. The Looking Glass wasn't guarded, or even in a place where people couldn't accidently wander through. One of these days a construction worker was going to find himself stuck in Wonderland because of his curiosity about the oversized mirror.

Hatter felt his plan becoming a reality, whether or not Alice and Jack knew they were playing right into his hands. He really was good at what he did, listening to what people said and turning it to his advantage.

"If I were a legal member of her world, I could buy the building, make sure that the Looking Glass was safe…" His prompt might have been a little less than subtle, but he wanted them to get back to the original topic, rather than his criminal streak.

"Fine." Jack stamped out his cigarette in a candy dish. "You'll have the papers. But on one condition." Hatter stiffened. Jack was a king. He could demand just about anything from his subjects. "You'll take some of the Resistance with you. Too many of them don't trust Wonderland anymore. The want new lives, away from this world, and the only place I can offer them is yours, Alice."

---

Was Jack Chase (Heart, whatever) begging her? Getting Hatter used to her world was going to be hard enough, but training a bunch of Wonderlanders to fit in… well that was going to be a bit of a job.

"As long as all of them have the proper paperwork." She said quickly. Taking care of a bunch of refugees was better than having Hatter taken away from her. "No guns, and no Dodo." Even if the man wanted out of Wonderland, he would just have to live with the consequences of threatening her and shooting Hatter.

"Very well, I'll have someone start forging the documents. By the way," Jack's smile was almost evil, "what name are you going by in her world, Hatter?"

Alice reached over and laced her fingers through Hatter's.

"David, David Hatter." Jack's smile grew.

---

**AN:**

Well, more Jack for this chapter. I just had to make him a smoker; he looks like he would be. And of course, store bought cigarettes would be too plebian for him, so he rolls his own. Evil s.o.b.

As to the number of Oysters that there were in Wonderland… I can't believe that there were only the number that we saw in the show. If you listen to what Winston says, the White Rabbit usually brings back about twenty and he hoped that they could get almost fifty a day. There has to be a considerable number of Oysters that we didn't see. After all, they need "a thousand thrills" to create a drop. And, we saw that the White Rabbit does take children, as evidenced by the two little girls, but there were no kids in the game room at the Casino, which leads me to believe that there might have been a completely separate room for kids. Syfy channel, we love you, but your numbers and the number of extras that you hire don't add up!

As always, I love reading reviews. They remind me that people actually read this!


	9. Where it All Began

**Disclaimer: **_Alice_ is owned by people with money, I just spend my free time writing fan fiction.

---

**Where it All Began**

"Well, David, I suppose that until you have a source of revenue in her world, you can use my old apartment as your home. Alice of course has a key." A key that she had never used. Why couldn't Jack be civil with Hatter? "The documents will take a few hours at the least. Perhaps you might want to go about getting your affairs in order." The way Jack said "affairs" made it sound as if he meant physical affairs rather than business ones.

Alice kept her hand in Hatter's.

"I guess we'll be going then. We'll be at the Tea Shoppe." Alice caught the faint blush of color along Hatter's cheekbones and wondered if it was caused by anger at Jack or pleasure that she was yet again holding his hand.

Charlie escorted them back to the Scarab.

"He's not a bad king, you know. Hatter just seems to bring out the worst in him." The knight's comment was wrong. She was the person who brought out the worst in Jack, every time he had treated Hatter poorly, it was because of her.

"Thank you, Charlie." She kissed the old knight's cheek at the same time as she felt Hatter squeezing her hand. These two men made Wonderland worthwhile, despite all the heartache that she associated with it.

---

The Tea Shoppe was worse than she expected. Not all of Hatter's precious clothes had survived Mad March's rampage and bits of silk, polyester and cotton littered his office. His large white chair had a slash roughly where Hatter's head would be if he sat down. The furniture was overturned, the grass looked trampled and large stains marred the white of the décor. Even though the place had never been particularly clean or well kept, the damage was noticeable. Every last one of the flowers that had sprung up between the furniture had been cut down.

Alice wondered what it was like for Hatter to see the business that he had tried so carefully to keep out of harm from both the Suits and the Resistance destroyed in this way. But he had seen it all before.

"Well, some of it can be salvaged. Not exactly sure if it's worth taking through the Glass though." She turned to him. He was holding up the pair of headphones that had been on the back of his chair when they first met, the day he had introduced himself as a friend. "I mean, some of it's got some value still, as long as I can find a buyer. I'm not certain if I can find anything like it in your world though." Alice looked around. Some of it might be replaceable. The designs weren't completely out of style.

"There are places where you can buy things like this." She said, gesturing to the toppled furniture. "It probably won't be cheap though."

---

Hatter shrugged that off. Those strange bits of paper that passed as money in her world wouldn't really be a problem soon. His plan made sure of that. He just needed to save enough to put things into motion, after that, the plan would pay for itself.

And that's when he found it, the box that he so stupidly forgotten to fit into his suitcase (not that it would have fit). Music. The box was filled with records that had never been released in Alice's world, but that were outrageously popular in Wonderland. With this he wouldn't have to suffer through that pulsing thunder that passed as music on the other side of the Glass.

He heard a creaking noise outside of the shop and motioned for Alice to stay quiet.

Quietly placing his hat on the ground beside him, he stood up and made his way to the door.

The door opened in a swirl of motion and shortly Hatter found himself sitting on the chest of a slightly smelly and quite dirty man.

"Ratty?" It wasn't really a surprise that the tea addict would find his way back to the shop. Hatter was glad that most of the bottles had been broken and that the remaining ones had been taken away by the king's Suits when the Scarab dropped them off. Ratty wouldn't have thought twice about mixing the teas, no matter if that might prove bad for his health of not.

"You're back?" The man sounded confused and in pain. Hatter got off of him and helped him up, being careful to brush the dirt off his hands.

"Alice, you remember Ratty." He announced, trying to sound confident. She nodded.

"Hello, Ratty." They all stood quiet. It was a strange situation, back where Hatter had first met Alice, with the man who had introduced them. Hatter was proud of the fact that he had been able to help Alice like Ratty had thought, even if it hadn't always been for purely philanthropic reasons.

Hatter bent down and grabbed his hat, letting it roll up his arm and deposit itself on his head.

"So, why are you here?" He asked suddenly, hoping to startle Ratty into giving a clear answer.

"I was hopin' to get a good look at the place before the crowds move it. Rumor has it that the King is planning on fixin' up the city." Hatter contemplated this. It was about as much as he had expected. In order to win the loyalty of the people, Jack had to work to make their lives better. That meant that shortly the Tea Shoppe, as one of the few buildings with working plumbing and air systems was going to be worth quite a bit of money. Not to mention the fact that the building had working lights and power. That alone made it worth a small fortune.

Hatter kicked at a fallen pencil holder, wondering whom he should ask Ratty to get in contact with. Or better yet…

"Ratty, could you possibly do me a favor? I know I don't have your usual payment, but it's a favor for Alice as well." Ratty really did believe that she was the Alice of Legend, and Hatter knew that he could capitalize on that fact.

The man nodded.

"Tell Dormie that I'll sell the shop to him, special discounted value, since tea's illegal and all now." Ratty's head bobbed faster. "Good." The man hurried out the door without another word to Hatter or Alice.

"Was that really necessary?" She asked, pushing a chair back up and sitting in it.

"Yes, my dear Alice, it was. Dormie has enough to buy the shop from me without fuss. Only problem's gonna be convincing Jack to change it out for your type of money." He sat down on the arm of her chair, noticing that there seemed to be another hat in the corner that he had missed on his first round through the place. "If everything works out, I'll be able to start my own business in your world, earn enough to keep on me feet. And maybe set a little aside for the future."

Alice's face froze and Hatter mentally kicked himself for mentioning the future to her. He doubted she even believed that they would last through tomorrow, let alone have a possibility of something more. But he had meant what he said when they first met, he did think she was very pretty, and he wanted to help her, especially if that meant he could be with her for longer.

"I mean, of course I'll have to have some set aside for when those Resistance members show up. Have you ever seen how much food refugees eat? It's absurd." He watched as Alice relaxed thanks to his ranting. Maybe she was just on edge because the last time she had been in his office, she hadn't known if he was a friend or not, and now… well they were at least a little more than friends.

---

"Thank you, Hatter." The words pushed their way out of her throat before she could stop them. He was being far more considerate of her than he had any right to be. So far he had compensated for her strange moods and the fact that her life had fallen apart and gotten put back together in just the last few days.

She leaned over and kissed him.

---

**AN:**

Merry Christmas! I decided that music in Wonderland would be called records or albums just like in our world, since there seem to be quite a few similarities between the two. I figured that Hatter would like music considering his headphones, and the machine behind him in his introduction scene that looked like it might be a music system of some sort.

I've decided on your Christmas present, a double update!

Reviews are loved.


	10. Farewell to the Past

**Disclaimer: **Syfy owns Alice and I own nothing except for the plot Jabberwockies.

**---**

**Farewell to the Past**

When Dormie stopped by, Alice was curled up under the purple velvet coat, listening intently to the music being piped through Hatter's headphones. It was amazing that he had been able to fix the stereobox as well as he had, though it still skipped at strange intervals. He would have to bring that through the Glass too, if only to tinker with it more on the other side.

After a few minutes of haggling and a brief nap on Dormie's part, Hatter was a good deal richer. It was a relief to know that the plan was going well.

Hatter vowed to himself that he would buy that construction site and make it into a dance club, with real music. He watched Alice's foot tap in time to the music that she was listening to and wondered exactly which album she had chosen. He had been willing to point out his favorites, but she had just selected one at random and figured out how to use the stereobox by herself. Maybe it wasn't all that different from the ones in her world after all.

"Well, Alice," he said, stretching out. He hoped that she could hear him over the music. "If dear old Jack were here, we could get going."

"Charming, Hatter." Jack Heart walked into the office. He motioned for one of the Suits to hand Hatter a large manila envelope.

---

Alice scrambled to her feet, pulling the headphones off.

"Everything should be in order. Made him a native of England while I was at it, though of course also a naturalized American citizen." Alice wondered what exactly would have happened if Jack had left that out. The idea of Hatter getting deported to England was a bit disturbing, even if he probably would have just run back through the Looking Glass instead.

At least saying that Hatter was from England would explain away his accent, and some of the strange things that he said. Half the time, Alice felt like she needed a dictionary to understand what he was talking about. But that just made him more interesting. His lapses into slang and random references to places and events she had never heard of made him seem a lot less polished and fake than Jack.

"Thank you, Jack." Alice and Hatter said simultaneously, her tone a bit less sarcastic than his. Hatter's arm moved around her waist possessively.

"Well," said Jack, clapping his hands together, "I believe we have some other business to do. I hear that you recently acquired some wealth that you need exchanged." Alice thought it was a bit creepy that Jack already knew that Hatter had sold the shop.

Another Suit approached with a briefcase, handing it carefully to Jack.

"Fifty million should be more than enough for you to purchase the warehouse. Of course it is more than you sold this place for, so just think of it as rent for those I'll be sending through." Alice's jaw dropped. Fifty million dollars? All in that briefcase? Granted, it wasn't a small briefcase, but still. Usually in movies when people were handing over such large amounts of cash, it practically needed a forklift. But (she did some quick calculations in her head) if it were all in large bills…

---

Hatter turned to Alice and took her look of first absolute astonishment and then consideration to be a sign that he wasn't being cheated too badly, if at all. He handed over the jewels that Dormie had given him. If there was one thing that didn't lose its value, it was gold and jewels, in fact those just seemed to increase in value as they got older. Too bad he had to part with them for some little pieces of paper that he probably could have gotten someone to forge anyway.

Wait…

"Are they the real thing?" He asked, as Jack handed over the briefcase. "I don't want Alice getting in trouble for dealing with fakes." He didn't want to get in trouble for dealing with fake money either. It would be kind of nice to stay mostly on the right side of the law for once, except of course for all the forged paperwork that he would be handling when the refugees came.

"It's all real. You think I would do something like that to Alice?"

---

And then they were regular guys, fighting over the girl. Alice rolled her eyes. It was nice to know that men were still men no matter what world they were from.

"Thank you, Jack." She repeated. "But if we are going to have everything ready, we had better get going. You know how time is." The time differences between her world and Wonderland still bothered her. How was Jack supposed to know when they were ready for the refugees?

"Certainly, I can imagine your mother might be missing you." Alice caught Hatter making a face out the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. He was able to make her feel better, despite her annoyance with Jack.

---

"If we could borrow some of your Suits…" Hatter began.

"Not going to happen." Jack's retort cut through Hatter's suggestion. They would need people to carry things back through the Looking Glass… but oh well.

"I suppose we could go ask the Resistance. I bet they're real bored not having anything to do." The way Jack's face paled (even more than usual) at the mention of the Resistance. Hatter knew from what Charlie said, and Jack's insistence that some of the Resistance go to Alice's world that there was something not entirely right in Wonderland still. But it was probably just a bit of unrest after Jack's rise to power.

"Fine, get everything together and load it into a Scarab. No one else will go through the Glass, but they can throw it through." Hatter decided that he would have to carry his records himself. Alice could hold the stereobox, since that was already a bit broken. The girl seriously needed to work on her landings.

"Alright then."

He marched to the corner of the room and extracted a white top hat from behind his desk. He set it on Alice's head at a jaunty angle and was rewarded with a smile.

"Just let us pack up."

---

**AN:**

I decided to name Hatter's music system a "stereobox" for lack of a better idea. It needed a name, since I wasn't just going to call it a music system the entire time.

I hope that you are happy with your Christmas present of two chapters. I wanted to do something special for you guys, since I've had some awesome reviewers.

Comments? Questions? Anything else? The button below is useful for that.


	11. One Step Forward

**Disclaimer: **_Alice_ is not owned by me. I just write fanfics.

---

**One Step Forward…**

After dodging all his belongings as they flew out of the Looking Glass, Hatter was starting to wonder if this really was such a good idea. Items that had been broken, but repairable, before entering the Glass came out on the other side in need of professional help.

He had wanted to save as much as possible, since he wasn't sure how far fifty million dollars would go. One of the first things on his list of things to do was to get Alice to explain her world's money to him, and fair prices for things. If he was going to haggle, he would need to know how much something was worth.

He propped up his chair and sighed with relief as it didn't promptly fall over again. Hatter thought that the slash in the fabric could be repaired. It was his chair, no one could complain if it was a little tattered. Brushing a hand along the tear, he wondered what would have happened if he had gone back to the Tea Shoppe after the fight at the Library. But he knew the answer. He would have been killed by the Resistance, and if not, Mad March would have done it. Better to have lost a home than his head.

---

Orange and red light streamed through the windowless openings in the warehouse. How long would it take for the place to be finished? And where exactly were they going to put Hatter's stuff until then? Alice sat down on one of the square chairs that they had rescued from Hatter's office.

She looked at the manila envelope beside her, and then at Hatter who was still working diligently to make certain that his belongings had arrived in one piece. With quick movements, her small fingers pried open the brad on the back of the envelope and emptied the contents into her hands.

The birth certificate looked pretty standard, even if she didn't know exactly what birth certificates from England looked like. She glanced at the date.

_Thirty? Hatter couldn't pass as thirty… _Her thought was interrupted by a string of curses that she thought translated into the fact that a particular table's parents hadn't been quite faithful, or tables. She looked over at him and noted again the creases in his brow when he was thinking or worried. Maybe he really was thirty.

School transcripts followed, thought it seemed like Jack had decided that Hatter had no need of a college education. Well, if Hatter wanted one, he could always enroll in a school. The idea of him wearing his usual clothes and sitting in a math lecture made her smile. Theatre would probably be much more his thing, or maybe business.

Alice found herself thankful that Jack hadn't provided Hatter with a driver's license (he wouldn't need one in New York anyway). The idea of a man who had lived in a city that didn't even have roads trying to drive was one that frightened Alice more than the Queen of Hearts had.

The papers became harder and harder to read in the failing light.

"What time is it, Hatter?" She asked suddenly. Her watch had stopped ticking the moment that they had gone through the Looking Glass and had resumed as soon as she fell through again.

---

Hatter glanced towards one of the openings in the wall.

"Not sure, but it's dusk if that helps any." His eyes grew wide. "And we left at night… Alice, your mom!" He was going to get flayed alive, he just knew it. In just a few hours in Wonderland, almost an entire day had passed in this world. Carol wasn't going to take kindly to the fact that her daughter had disappeared again without warning.

---

Alice took off, running through the warehouse without a backwards glance at Hatter. Her feet pounded the pavement and again she was thankful for the fact that she was in jeans rather than a dress.

She doubted that her cell phone worked in Wonderland any better than her watch did, and no new voicemails had shown up on her phone since she got back. But that didn't mean that her mother hadn't called, just that the notifications hadn't appeared.

Her mother was sitting in their living room.

"Where have you been?" Carol's voice was cold and worried. Alice felt like a little girl again, getting scolded for playing a prank or getting into a fight at school. But Carol took disappearing very seriously, even if she had tried to put a light hearted spin on it for years. There was a reason that Alice still lived at home.

"I was with Ha—David." She sat down in the chair opposite her mother.

"And you couldn't pick up your cell phone?" Alice knew her mother wasn't unreasonable, but at that moment, it was hard to remember that fact.

"There was no reception." It was technically true. Wonderland didn't exactly have cell towers. Carol's shoulders fell and her face turned sad instead of demanding.

"Alice, can't you just tell me what's been going on?" She wanted to tell her mother, she really did. But if she was going to tell, she needed Hatter's permission. It was his world and his past that she would be ratting out to her mother, and Alice thought he should have a say in it.

When Alice opened her mouth to answer, Carol interrupted.

"Starting from Jack coming over for dinner, please." Alice stilled, considering how different her perception of the last few days was as compared to her mother's.

"Jack gave me the ring and I wanted to return it to him…" she began, trying to think of how to tell the rest of the story without mentioning Wonderland or the fact that Hatter was technically a criminal. "So, I went to the warehouse. Jack and Hatter are business partners and they've been considering buying the property." That was true enough; she thought that Hatter might approve of the lie that was still mostly the truth. "Jack was there, with his fiancé." It wasn't hard for Alice to fill that comment with resentment. Jack had lied to her, even if he claimed that there had been no real attraction between him and Duchess.

"Oh, honey…" her mother moved over to her and put an arm around Alice's shoulders.

"It was ok, Mom." Alice said, trying to brighten up her tone. "Hatter was there, and he was really understanding about the whole thing." If her mom thought that Hatter was Alice's rebound after Jack, it would still be better than her thinking that Alice had been cheating on Jack with Hatter.

"Why do you call him Hatter?" Her mom looked confused. Alice remembered her first meeting with the man.

"Well, it's his last name, and he always seems to have a hat on, so it stuck. All of his school friends call him that." She thought she remembered saying that Hatter and Jack had gone to the same school at some point. She hoped her mom wouldn't assume it was college and ask which one. But then again, Alice had read all the paperwork about which schools Hatter had supposedly attended while living in England, maybe one of those would work.

Alice decided to continue with the story.

"Even though Hatter had been really nice to me, I still wanted to get home. I guess I must have run into an exposed pipe or something, since I woke up in the hospital. I suppose I was a bit too enthusiastic about seeing him when he stopped over though." A slight blush spread over her cheeks at the idea that she had kissed Hatter for the first time in front of her mother. It was worse than being caught almost kissing by Jack.

"So, are you and Hatter dating now?" Carol sounded a little annoyed, but at least it was better than having her blame Hatter for everything.

"Well, we went out for pizza. And he's been letting me help out with some of his work. Not construction!" Alice amended quickly, since her mother had looked about ready to interrupt. "Hatter found the warehouse when he was working construction and thought it would be perfect for the business he and Jack had been thinking about. He's been letting me help him get all… um… the paperwork together so that they can purchase it." Alice couldn't even count the number of half-truths in what she had just said to her mother. She wasn't sure that she even wanted to.

"Well, we'll just have to have this 'Hatter' over for dinner."

---

**AN: **

Some people wanted to know why I had Jack give Hatter 50 million in the previous chapter. The reason is that property values of warehouses in New York are incredibly high.

I made Hatter thirty years old because that's how old the actor is. It fit well enough for the story.

And of course, Carol finally got some answers, even if they weren't the truth.

Any reviews are welcome. And if you ask me questions, I might just answer.


	12. Two Steps Back

**Disclaimer:** Neither Hatter nor Alice belong to me. They and their world belong to Syfy. I just write the fan fiction.

**---**

**Two Steps Back**

"No, absolutely not." Hatter had to put his foot down somewhere. And right in the middle of the idea that he should go to dinner at her apartment seemed like the right place to put it.

"Mom wants me to prove that I'm not just going to run away from this relationship." It was sweet hearing Alice refer to what they had as a relationship. So far they had had less than a handful of kisses (though he had stolen one when she came back to the warehouse) and a series of two dates (the first good, the second disastrous). He wasn't sure if what he and Alice had could exactly be defined as a relationship yet. But if she wanted to call it that, he wasn't really going to argue the fact.

"Fine, but if she starts grinnin' like a Cheshire, I'm out of there." Hatter could face down anything, but he didn't usually deal with mothers.

"Okay. She asked if next Friday would be good." Hatter stared at her. He didn't exactly have a full schedule of visits to friends planned. Alice smiled at him. "Well, I had to ask."

He put his arms around her, rolling his eyes at that comment. He wanted to kiss the top of her head and say that what they had would definitely survive dinner with her mother, but he resisted the urge. He couldn't be sure of that. Alice had said herself that she had bad luck with men and he had to face the fact that an ex-smuggler from another world could hardly be considered to be good luck. Add to that his short, but convincing, list of failed relationships and they had a good chance of not being able to make this work. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try his hardest, he just wasn't going to make promises that would hurt her more if one of them did walk away.

---

Alice sat back down to look at the paperwork, once she explained to Hatter how a cell phone worked. He seemed to be on-hold with the company that was doing construction on the warehouse. Thank goodness for the fact that there had been a sign outside the building with a warning not to enter the premises, including the company's name and a phone number for interested buyers, or the police to call in case someone vandalized the property. It didn't seem like there had been anyone around the building in weeks for the construction work though. She wondered just how long the Glass had been there and just how many people the White Rabbit had dragged through the building to take back to the Casino.

While going through the paperwork, Alice found two things that made her day a little better. The first was a contract for a sublease of Jack's old apartment to Hatter. The second was Jack's key to that apartment. Alice guessed that he had had it on him when he was brought back to Wonderland. This way she wouldn't have to give Hatter her key, or even draw attention to the fact that she had one for Jack's apartment.

Thinking about the apartment key in the drawer of her nightstand made her anxious. She was grateful for the fact that she hadn't slept with Jack. That would have made things even more explosive when she found out that he had lied to her the entire time they had been together. But she didn't know if Hatter would understand the situation. She didn't even know what a normal relationship looked like in Wonderland. Deciding relationships couldn't be all that different from one world to another, Alice decided that she would draw a map for Hatter to follow to Jack's apartment. She really didn't want to have to deal with explaining the nature of her flirtation with Jack.

"Yes, I know we're in a recession." Alice looked up to see Hatter staring at her with a questioning look on his face, even though his voice sounded sure. Whoops, she really needed to give him the rundown of economics and such if he was going to start a business.

"I don't understand why you won't finish the project even if I'm willing to pay for it." He was starting to sound a bit desperate. If he offered a bribe… Alice got up and took the phone away from him, which wasn't hard, since he had been holding it as if it were a bug about to bite off his ear.

"Excuse me, could you repeat that? My boss had to take another call." Pretending to be a secretary was better than having Hatter gain a name for corruption even before he started business.

He looked at her with a mix of astonishment and approval. She smiled as the woman on the other side of the line began to talk again.

"I was just informing your boss that construction of that particular building has been put on hold. We can't finish building what we can't sell in this market." It was an all too common occurrence these days and probably the reason why there were so many construction sites in the area.

"What is the proposed asking price for the finished project?"

---

Hatter watched, feeling a kind of awe as Alice spoke to the woman that he had been getting nowhere with. She sounded like a business woman who knew what she was talking about, or at least he assumed so. He had heard the tone multiple times from competitors in the tea trade. You needed to sound smart and confident for people to think you were. Hatter felt a little out of his depth in this world, even if for the most part it was similar to Wonderland.

"Yes, I understand." Hatter smiled as he saw her nodding, despite the fact that she had explained to him that the person on the other end was unable to see you when you spoke to them.

"I believe it might be more productive to schedule an appointment… Yes… Yes, Tuesday at ten works nicely for Mr. Hatter. He looks forward to discussing matters further." She took the phone away from her ear and closed it.

"You know what? I hate doing that. From now on, you get to be the one that lies to people." He grinned at her while she made a face at the phone in her hand.

"Really? I thought you didn't approve of lying," Hatter teased, "Not that I'm not thankful, and all of that."

"I guess I can live with it. Just as long as you don't lie to me." He would never dream of it. He had seen what she could do when she was angry. Alice sighed and tossed the phone onto the chair she had been sitting in.

"So, explain to me again exactly what you are going to do with a warehouse, besides hide the Looking Glass in it…" Hatter grinned, knowing that she was never going to believe him.

"We, my lovely Alice, are going to start a nightclub. A nightclub that plays only the best of music from my world and serves only the best of drinks from yours." He said with a wink. "A little slice of home right here." He gestured around the warehouse, imagining the décor and filling it with people in his mind. Of course he would have a private office to retreat to. It was going to be just like home.

---

**AN: **

I decided to give Hatter some failed relationships. I thought that it would be realistic for his character and would help him relate better to Alice when they talk about their relationship. Hatter and Alice both have to ask themselves if the relationship is going to work between them. It is understandable for the point they are at and the pasts that they've had. Relationships take work on both sides and I want to show that.

Also, you've got to love the fact that Alice is becoming a bit more comfortable with lying thanks to being around Hatter. The idea of her pretending to be a business woman puts a smile on my face and I hope it did the same for you.

If you have any questions, just review. I'm more than willing to answer. And if you just want to ask for more, that's fine too.


	13. The First Refugee

**Disclaimer: **As much as I love writing fanfiction, I wouldn't be doing it if I owned _Alice_, I would be forcing Syfy to make this story into _Alice Part II._

**---**

**The First Refugee**

The next day, Alice went back to work. It was hard to focus on teaching a bunch of white belts karate when her mind was on Hatter and what he was doing. The idea of turning the warehouse into a club had been brilliant (once he finally told her about it). And she thought that the idea of making it Wonderland themed would be good for the refugees once they arrived. They would have a place where they could talk and just be themselves without having to worry about the fact that they wouldn't fit into her world right away.

Hatter had promised that he wouldn't get into too much trouble while she was gone for the day. Once the man had found the computer at Jack's apartment and had gotten a quick explanation of how to use the internet, he had gone to work, compiling all the information he would need, including codes and regulations that the club would have to meet in order to open.

She corrected one of the students, showing him how to roll during a fall to keep from getting the breath knocked out of his chest. White belt classes meant that she constantly had to be changing stances and positioning, since none of the students actually knew what they were doing.

Ordinary life seemed tame after what she had been through, but she welcomed it.

"Ok, everyone! Next class is Wednesday at seven. Remember to practice your falls." She dismissed the class.

It would have been nice having someone to talk to about what had happened. Hatter was great, but she wished that she had girlfriends she could discuss things with. But she couldn't tell any of her friends about what was going on, not that she had many. Most other girls she knew tended to view her with either scorn or suspicion. Having had bad luck with men and a habit of running away from relationships was apparently unforgivable. Most other girls had given up on talking to Alice long before, when they realized that her chronic relationship problems were mostly her own fault.

She changed back into normal clothes and walked over to the warehouse. Even if Hatter wasn't there, it was still better than going home so early. She still felt a bit uncomfortable about the idea of heading over to Jack's old apartment, even though she had brought Hatter there, since her map had turned out to be indecipherable to someone who had only lived in New York a few days.

Her heels clicked loudly on the concrete of the construction site. The bare walls and hard floors gave no hint of the future that the building held. She wondered what the place would look like once Hatter got hold of it. She imagined something that looked like the game room from the Casino and shuddered. Hopefully Hatter wouldn't use that particular decorating scheme.

Alice turned the corner to see a tall, blonde woman sitting regally on one of Hatter's chairs.

"Finally, if it's your fault I'm stuck here, you might as well help me out a bit." The woman's eyes flashed as she flipped her hair angrily with the back of her hand. At her feet lay a collection of suitcases, like petitioners kneeling before their queen.

Alice's mouth formed an "o" of surprise.

"Duchess?"

---

"What do you mean…? You can't really be serious… What does she expect us to do?" Hatter looked out the window of his new apartment. He refused to think of the fact that it had been Jack's even if there seemed to be far too much red and a few too many stylized heart shapes spread throughout. He forced his attention back to the phone call.

Why had Jack decided that it was a good idea to saddle them with his girlfriend? Even if the man didn't like her, it was a bit more than cruel to make Alice have to deal with her.

He needed a way to keep this situation from exploding in his face. Jack's poor problem solving skills were about to make Hatter's life a lot more difficult.

"Bring her over here, then…Yes, I know you don't like this, but it's not like we have anywhere else to put her. Do you need any help with her things…? Of course not, I'll see you soon."

---

Alice snapped her phone shut. If she had been in Wonderland at that moment, Jack Heart would be in a lot of pain. She didn't exactly understand why Duchess had decided to leave Wonderland, but she was sure that it wasn't going to be good. Thank goodness she had come with all the paperwork she would need.

"At least I know that Jack's apartment is going to be nicer than this." Duchess nearly whined. It was painful to think that this woman with her flimsy dresses and big hair thought that she could fit into Alice's world. But then again, maybe she could become a model or something, Alice thought bitterly. She still remembered Duchess's comments about how plain Alice was compared to the blonde, tall, elegant beauty that she possessed.

The brunette picked up a suitcase in each hand, leaving the last two for Duchess to carry.

Public transportation was out of the question with all the blonde's bags, and Alice wasn't sure if Duchess could walk the blocks to Hatter's apartment wearing no shoes at all. The woman certainly didn't need the extra height, but walking around New York with no shoes on was idiotic.

So, Alice called a cab. It took nearly a half-hour for one to arrive and then another ten to get through to Hatter's place, thanks to an accident that had diverted traffic onto the side roads.

Alice tried not to think of the fact that the woman beside her was Jack's girlfriend, the woman that he had been engaged to the entire time that he had been dating Alice. It stung to think that she was "the other woman" in that scenario and she felt a little bit more forgiving of Duchess's behavior. Maybe the woman had insulted Alice because she had felt threatened. Who knew? Alice never understood why some girls acted that way, but she would accept it for the time being.

Hatter was standing outside the apartment. She smiled when she saw him and he helped her carry the bags upstairs, while Duchess trailed after them, commenting on how dirty and smelly Alice's world was.

The woman had obviously never been into the city in Wonderland. Cities were generally dirty places, no matter what world they were in.

"So, where are the Clubs?" asked Duchess as she sat down on the couch.

"The what?" Alice asked, noting that Hatter had made a sour face at the woman's question.

"The servants." Duchess's imperious tone stung. "I doubt that Jack would live here if there were no servants to care for him."

_Wow_, thought Alice, _she has absolutely no clue. _

"There aren't servants here, at least not with the amount of money Jack was living on." Come to think of it, why had the man gotten a relatively modest apartment when he had a few million to be able to give to Hatter? Well, he hadn't exactly been the king then, she reminded herself. "Around here, we do our own work."

---

**AN:**

I'm feeling a little bit evil. Why else would I make Alice and Hatter have to take care of Duchess? The idea of her coming to our world was just too fun for me to resist.

And about Alice's problems with other women… It seems that there are quite a few women who are made uncomfortable by their friend having constant relationship problems. Sooner or later, they tend to start blaming the friend and assuming that there is something wrong with the person that they can't have a good relationship. In Alice's case, she admits to this problem, which seems like it would make other people wonder why she can't fix it. In my mind, her friends weren't very understanding and got caught up in the fact that Alice was always in the same situation. I think Carol is the person that Alice is most comfortable talking to, but Alice can't tell her everything, especially not about Wonderland.

If you have comments, critiques or just want to share something you thought while reading, leave a review. I love reading them.


	14. Getting to Know You

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Alice_ or the related characters, places or ideas. Syfy has that honor.

---

**Getting to Know You**

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It seems like Jack had a taste for slumming." Duchess's gaze lingered on Alice. The shorter girl stood firm beneath the withering stare. Hatter noticed all of this and filed it away for further thought later.

"As much as I really want someone who isn't my girlfriend to be sleeping here tonight… Why in the name of the Red King did Jack send you here?" He didn't like having his personal space invaded, and certainly not by this woman who seemed intent on making Alice feel bad.

The blonde laughed. It was not an attractive sound. Hatter was inordinately pleased by that fact. Her face was suddenly bitter, and lines formed at the corners of her eyes.

"I couldn't exactly stay, now could I? My fiancé comes back from another world with a girlfriend in tow. And when he becomes king he has the gall to ask her to marry him instead of the woman that he's known since he was a child."

---

Was Duchess actually serious? Who would care? But then Alice remembered how people were. If there was a chance to ridicule those in power, they took it happily. Alice would have gladly felt sorry for Duchess, but the woman made it hard for anyone to pity her.

"Well, if that's the case. Why not just find someone else to rub it in his face with?" Hatter's suggestion wasn't exactly the best advice, but it seemed much more Duchess's style than simply running away.

"Because right now, I look like the victim." Commented the woman, who looked more like a predator than a victim in that moment.

Alice turned to do something else. If Duchess wanted to work on a power play against Jack that was her own business.

---

Hatter showed Alice the progress that he had made, highlighting the key issues that would need to be addressed about buying the warehouse. Zoning and such could be handled, but he had quickly realized that he didn't have the time to organize everything that he would need in order to purchase the property and overcome all the political and bureaucratic nonsense that this world seemed so keen on.

"You could hire someone. I mean, if Jack really wants this to work I doubt he'll spare any expense to see it done right." Hatter ignored the fact that there was a tiny hint of grudging admiration in Alice's voice when she spoke about Jack. He would erase that soon enough.

They were sitting in the bedroom, looking at the computer screen while Duchess watched television in the other room.

He went over to sit on the bed, while Alice remained at the desk.

"I guess. I mean, neither of us really understands all this legal drivel." But his mind had wandered away from the topic.

This was the first time that Alice had been in this bedroom while he was its owner. And his mind kept looping back to the fact that she might have been in the room before. Thinking of Alice and Jack together made him jealous, and that was a feeling he wasn't precisely comfortable with.

He idly spun his hat between his hands, causing it to do rolls and sudden twists.

---

Alice could tell that Hatter was thinking about something, but she wasn't sure if she should interrupt. It was strange getting to know when exactly to speak up in a relationship and when being quiet was better. She hoped this time that silence was the answer. With Duchess in the next room, Alice wasn't sure if she wanted to get into a serious conversation with Hatter.

"Did ya' sleep with him?" Hatter's voice was a bit husky and it took Alice a moment to understand what he had asked.

"Wait a minute… what?" Her eyes widened. In a split second, her emotions went from confusion to outrage to disappointment and finally to understanding.

"No. I never had sex with Jack." Not that they hadn't been considering it. It was more that they hadn't actually gotten around to it before Jack was taken. Come to think of it, if she thought that sex with Jack was something to be "gotten around to" it probably would have been a bad idea to sleep with him in the first place.

There was such a look of relief on Hatter's face that Alice felt that she needed to be completely honest with him.

"But I have had sex before." Hatter's hat did what almost could be described as a victory dance as it flew up his arm and back onto his head. He was grinning brightly.

"That doesn't exactly bother me. It was just the idea of sleeping in a bed that you and Jack…" He gestured to the bed he was sitting on with a look of disgust.

---

"You two look a lot better together than you and Jack did." Duchess said from the doorway. Hatter wondered just how much she had heard, but judging from her faintly triumphant smile, he guessed she had heard enough to make her feel better.

"Thank you." Alice's sounded a little less than pleased with the interruption. Hatter had to admit that the timing was a bit unfortunate. But at least now he knew the truth about Jack and Alice, no matter what the man might insinuate next time they met.

"So, one of Jack's conditions for me coming here was that I was going to have to 'work.'" Duchess said the word as if it was unclean and she didn't want to stain her lips with it. Hatter wondered what type of job he could find for her to do. Maybe a waitress? Or entertainment, if he could convince her that it wasn't beneath her dignity to be ogled by dozens of men nightly. But then again, she would probably take it as a compliment.

The rest of the day was spent explaining to Duchess important parts of Alice's world. Hatter found himself learning as well. He was entranced by the public transportation maps that Alice called up on the computer screen. There were so many possibilities open to them and this city was far bigger than he had expected. Not only that, it was only one of many. He had only ever really seen two, and one of those had been the ruined Kingdom of the Knights.

---

Alice found that it was unexpectedly fun to teach them about her world. Some of the smallest things would cause them to stare in wonder at her, while some things she wouldn't have expected them to know about were greeted as a matter of course.

From what Alice had seen, science in Wonderland was just as advanced, if not more so than her world. But it was the application of that knowledge that was different. She remembered seeing a phone booth near Hatter's shop, but he admitted to the fact that it hadn't worked in as long as anyone could remember. He thought that there might not be anyone in Wonderland who even knew how to work a phone, even if they had things like the flamingos.

Through the course of the question and answer session, Alice realized that Duchess was far smarter than she seemed. The woman's questions were well thought out and she commonly referenced earlier things that Alice had said to clarify a point.

Maybe the woman wasn't so bad after all.

---

**AN: **

I figured it went with Alice's character to have some experience with men (or a man depending on what I decide later). I don't really think this would bother Hatter too much, as long as she hadn't slept with Jack. As much as I love the idea of Hatter being the only man for her, it doesn't strike me as very realistic.

Questions? Comments? Anything? Hit the review button and let me know!


	15. Three Days of Duchess

**Disclaimer:** Syfy owns _Alice_. But can't I at least have Hatter's hat?

---

**Dedication:** To the Reviewers, for begging me patiently for more fluff. And for Ikaplon for offering to help with the fluff if I got stuck. I think I did okay by myself this time though.

---

**Three Days of Duchess**

It took Alice about three days to realize that she still didn't really like Duchess. The woman was entitled and a royal pain in the… Well, at least outside of Wonderland she didn't have anyone who waited on her hand and foot. Alice reasoned that it would be a character building exercise for the woman, much like Alice taught white belts to respect the fact that there were things they could not and should not do.

Already, Duchess had found out about money and exactly how much it was worth. The first day's shopping had been a total fiasco.

Since Duchess had arrived with only gowns and overly large pieces of jewelry, Alice and Hatter had taken the woman in search of clothes that could be worn at places other than parties or court functions.

It didn't bother Alice that Duchess wouldn't even consider wearing pants, let alone jeans. Alice preferred skirts sometimes but wearing nothing else seemed a little bit excessive. Thankfully all the dresses the woman picked were fairly conservative, if expensive. Duchess seemed to only pick designer label clothes, even if she didn't know who the designers were.

---

"She's worse than I am." Hatter said with a bit of surprise. Certainly he liked nice clothes, but he didn't buy them all at once, and he certainly wouldn't buy them for the amount that Duchess was willingly handing out. After just a few days in Alice's world, he had gotten the hang of using those pesky bits of paper to buy things.

"We need to figure out how to get the money into a bank." Alice whispered in his ear, causing his hair to tickle his neck. "You can't just keep buying everything with cash." He had no clue what she was talking about, but he wasn't going to admit it. He nodded, even though trusting other people with his money wasn't exactly on the top of his list of things to do.

He hoped that Alice would teach Duchess about finances at some point, because he certainly wasn't going to do it. The woman had no concept of how to budget wealth.

"Duchess, that's enough." Said Alice as the woman started making her way to yet another rack of clothes.

"Jack said I was to have anything I want." The blonde's pout was anything but cute to Hatter.

"Yes, but Jack doesn't have to feed you," commented Hatter. The woman ate a lot more than could be expected of someone her size. She had gone through multiple containers of what Alice called "Chinese food" the night before.

They got Duchess out of the store with promises that they would come back later at some point. Though, Hatter amended, only after she had her own source of money to spend. A few of the women in the shops had asked if Duchess was a model, whatever that was.

---

The second day, Duchess claimed that she needed an apartment of her own.

"I can't live here with him! He's disgusting." Alice's jaw clenched.

"That's my boyfriend you're talking about." Luckily she had rules against hitting people who weren't trying to fight her. Being a black belt had certain disadvantages.

"Well then, you live with him. I'll just take your apartment." Duchess looked perfectly serious. A smile tugged at Alice's mouth.

"Well, if you want to live with my mother, you can certainly go ahead." The taller woman stopped suddenly.

"Your mother? No wonder Hatter never goes over to your place." Well, at least they were in agreement about that. Hatter wouldn't go anywhere near her apartment if her mom might be there. He would have to show up for the dinner her mother had planned but they had more important things to worry about in the next few days.

The meeting with the owner of the construction company was the next day and then if everything went well, Hatter and Alice would be busy finding a lawyer and figuring out what to do with the money.

---

On the third day, Duchess decided that she needed to go with them to the meeting.

"Really, Hatter, it won't be so bad. I'll make certain that she stays quiet." Alice wondered if it was like owning a small dog. Too bad Duchess couldn't be put in a purse to keep her out of the way. The idea was appealing though…

---

The cab ride to the office was uncomfortable at best. Hatter was forced to ride in the front because Duchess insisted that it was much too crowded with three people in the back seat and that she wouldn't sit next to the driver.

Everything else went well, at least until the owner saw Duchess. The man practically tripped over his feet in his effort to get closer to the tall blonde. Hatter didn't see what was so attractive about her. He much preferred Alice's looks.

The meeting was a waste of time. Certainly they got promises that they would be able to buy the building once it was completed, but the other man's mind seemed to have departed completely when he saw Duchess. None of Hatter's comments about speeding up the construction or purchasing the building as it was received anything more than a non-committal grunt.

Hatter hoped that they would have more luck with a lawyer. And next time, Duchess was staying at the apartment.

---

That night, Alice decided that she needed to do something about Duchess. It wasn't like they could let her live by herself yet. Alice trusted Hatter with that, but certainly not Duchess. The woman might be smart, but she wasn't adapting as quickly as Hatter was. She hadn't even been used to doing things for herself in Wonderland.

"Thinkin' 'bout things?" Hatter's voice rumbled in his chest under her ear. They were lying on his bed, fully clothed, trying to relax after the long day. Alice found that when she was tense or worried that just being near to Hatter helped her calm down. She pulled her head off his chest to look at him. His hair was hanging in his face and his whiskers looked longer than normal.

"Yes, just that Duchess…" Hatter's mouth closed over hers, silencing what she was going to say. And after just a moment, she forgot what she had been thinking about.

---

Hatter couldn't believe his luck. It was still surprising that Alice wanted to be with him. He deepened the kiss, letting his tongue enter her all too willing mouth. It was bliss. That was the only word he had to describe how it felt.

He let his hands curl into her hair, feeling the soft strands beneath his fingers.

With his eyes still closed, he let his lips trace every curve of her face, memorizing them in case none of this was real. He had told Alice that his world wasn't a children's story. But to him, her world felt like one.

He was terrified that one day he would wake up back in the Tea Shoppe to find that Alice and their adventures had just been a dream. Alice had told him that when she first woke up in the hospital, she had feared that Wonderland hadn't been real after all. But that he had proven it wasn't a dream when he had showed up at her apartment.

"This is real." He murmured too softly for her to hear as he let his lips find their way back to hers.

---

Alice wanted to stay there forever. Curled up in Hatter's arms seemed like a wonderful way to spend the rest of her life. But it was far too soon to try to convince him of that. Even if he had followed her through the Glass, he would bolt as soon as she mentioned making their situation a bit more permanent.

Heck, she had bolted when Jack had suggested that, and they had known each other for a lot longer than Alice and Hatter had.

At least Hatter wouldn't ask her to go visit his parents. And even if he did, his family couldn't be any worse than Jack's had been.

Hatter's lips on her neck reminded her of the present. For now she had happiness and she was determined not to mess it up.

She placed her hand beneath his jaw and smiled in pleasure as his eyes opened to look up at her. His gaze was stormy and she felt as if it were possible to drown in those turbulent depths.

Her lips brushed against his, feeling the softness of his mouth underneath hers. She closed her eyes, reveling in the moment.

---

**AN:**

I think I'm becoming more and more a fan of Duchess. It's a pity she gets so little screen time in the show. She just seems like someone who would have made an interesting character if we were given more of her actions and motivations. Which is why she's here in this story, I wanted to know more about her, so writing about her seemed like a good idea.

As for the fluff: I hope you like it. It's a lot more difficult to write than I expected.

If you have anything to say about this chapter or any questions you want to ask, leave a review!


	16. Where Has All the Money Gone

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ the show, Alice the character and Hatter the awesome are all owned by Syfy.

---

**Where has all the Money Gone?**

Everything went fine for the next couple of days; even Duchess was able to keep out of trouble. Alice didn't think that daytime television was exactly the right place to be learning about how to live outside of Wonderland, but she wasn't going to argue if it kept the blonde busy while she and Hatter got work done.

Alice still taught her karate classes, glad at least that there was some form of constant in her life. So much had changed since she got back. Her mother seemed a bit less trusting of her, and having Hatter around was a lot more distracting than Jack or any of her other boyfriends had ever been.

"About the money…" Alice began. Having nearly fifty million dollars (they had of course had to spend some on Duchess's new clothes and food) sitting under Hatter's bed was not exactly a good idea. And while Alice knew that the rent for the apartment could be paid with cash according to the sub-lease that Jack had given Hatter, it still didn't cover the fact that cash simply couldn't be used for everything. And walking around New York carrying a lot of money wasn't something she would recommend on any day.

---

She sounded like an old woman, constantly nagging him about the money. It was sweet, but unnecessary.

"I deposited it yesterday." He enjoyed the look of utter shock on her face. "I opened a bank account and everything. They even gave me this shiny new piece of plastic." He said, holding up what he knew perfectly well to be a credit card. He had seen her use hers to buy food sometimes when they went out, and groceries when they needed to work in the apartment.

In fact, the bank had been a bit too eager to take the money. He worried that there might be something wrong, but he knew that Alice trusted that particular bank with her own money as well.

Hatter silently thanked Jack, even if it irked him to be indebted to the king. Duchess had given Hatter a stack of paper that Alice hadn't seen, a few letters from Jack detailing how exactly to go about acquiring land in Alice's world. Apparently it wasn't the first time that the Heart family had done so. He wondered why the Queen had had the White Rabbit place the Looking Glass in a building that she didn't own. But then again, if anyone noticed people disappearing in the proximity, it couldn't have been traced back to her. The Queen was a remarkably paranoid woman, a trait which he normally admired, but found absolutely repulsive in her.

---

"You did what?" Alice had nasty images in her head of someone thinking that Hatter was a terrorist or a criminal. The idea of him in an orange prison jumpsuit without his hat made her face go pale. She had wanted him to deposit the money, but not all at once. Alice had to face the fact, she hadn't known what to do and that might possibly get them both (Duchess didn't even figure into her thoughts) in trouble.

"He deposited the money." Chimed in Duchess, as if she knew that she had even been mentally excluded from the conversation. "Jack gave me a letter saying how to do it. Something about the fact that Wonderland actually has a bank of its own that deals with your money. It was all a bit confusing when I read it." Wonderland had a bank? What the hell had the Queen been planning to do? Alice was glad that woman was no longer on the throne. Even if Jack was a bit irritating these days, at least he didn't kill people.

---

After living with Duchess for almost a week, Hatter knew her a lot better than Alice did. The woman was smart, but she liked to pretend that she was just a pawn. It was disconcerting in the extreme, but there was nothing really that he could do about it. He still had no idea why the woman had really decided to come to Alice's world. If she had really meant her comments about the gossip that was following her, she would have just traveled within Wonderland itself. More and more, her stories weren't adding up, despite the expert spin she put on them. He got the feeling that she let herself be played and made the fool of for a reason.

Hatter didn't particularly like people keeping secrets unless it was him. His own secrets were known variables. Everyone else's secrets were problems just waiting to rise up and bite him.

"Yup, Old King Heart's been more than helpful." Even if he wasn't certain about Duchess, it was still fun to bait her occasionally.

"Jack's not old!" She protested. She threw the nearest object that she could find. Thankfully it was just a couch pillow that bounced harmlessly off his arm.

"Jack again." Alice's tone sounded resigned.

---

Why was everything looping back to Jack? Sure he was King of Wonderland, her ex-boyfriend, and now something like Hatter's business partner. But why the heck couldn't she go through her life for one day without hearing his name? She knew she was just as guilty as anyone else for bringing him up in conversation, but the man seemed to be present even when he was in a different world. Alice wasn't used to feeling bitter. Maybe she still hadn't forgiven Jack.

Not to mention the fact that it was still uncomfortable to see the look in Duchess sent her way every time Jack was mentioned. Tigers would run in fear from the woman. Even though Alice was fairly certain that Duchess had heard her tell Hatter that she hadn't slept with Jack, the woman was still cold at times. Alice guessed it was all part of her punishment for being dumb enough to believe Jack's lies.

"Just as long as nothing horrible is going to happen." She poured herself a drink from the refrigerator and sat back down next to Hatter.

---

Hatter moved a pile of paper so that she wouldn't leave rings of condensation on the paper again. He preferred to work in much more orderly environments and from working with Alice for the past few days, he knew that she had a systematic approach to everything.

He ignored the sound of Duchess once again flipping through the television channels while he focused on the paper before him.

It was another of Jack's notes. When had the man found time to write them all? Hatter wondered, not for the first time, how much time had elapsed in Wonderland between when he left for a second time and Duchess had appeared.

The note contained instructions on which lawyers to approach about what problems that Hatter might run across in his attempts to buy the warehouse. In Wonderland, land transactions were fairly simple, just an exchange of valuables and a deed to the property. The sale didn't even have to be registered anywhere. Hatter didn't know how Alice's world continued to work with the backwards desire for records that seemed to permeate everything here.

He saw Alice glancing nervously at the clock every few minutes.

"Is anything the matter?" He asked, wondering what could possibly have her so edgy.

"Mom said that dinner's at seven." He cursed, how had he forgotten? Today was Friday, and their dinner with Alice's mother.

"May I come?" Duchess stood up from her place on the couch and talked over to the table. Her height made her tower over where they were sitting.

And just like that, Hatter had a plan.

---

**AN: **

In my mind, the Queen had a lot of plans that she didn't get to carry through with thanks to getting deposed. I like the idea of the Queen having a secret bank full of money that we use in our world. It seems like the type of sneaky thing she would do to fund amusing excursions into this world.

Duchess has her own secrets and ideas. I feel sorry for Alice and Hatter. And I hope that Jack doesn't cause too many problems for them… yeah right. Alice and Hatter have a long way to go before everything is done.

Hopefully the next chapter will be more entertaining: dinner at Alice's.

Comments? Questions? You keep reviewing, I keep writing. At least that's how I hope this works.


	17. Dinner at Alice's

**Disclaimer:** Do we really have to keep going through this? Syfy owns _Alice_. I only possess deranged plot Jabberwockies.

---

**Dinner at Alice's**

Alice had to admit. She liked having a smart boyfriend. Hatter knew that if he and Alice were to just go to dinner with her mother, the situation would be tense. Having her call her mother and ask if she could bring over another friend, made it so that they might be able to get through the meal in peace.

Admittedly, telling her mother that Duchess was her friend was almost too much for Alice. No matter how much Alice taught her or how much time they spent together, Duchess still treated Alice poorly. Not that Alice had been trying very hard to make everything better between them. She thought that Duchess probably had a right to dislike her after everything that had happened with Jack.

Alice and Carol were seated on the couch when Hatter rang the door bell. This time, Alice didn't kiss him as he walked in. She just took his coat and hat and hung them up by the door.

"Thank you for inviting me over, Mrs. Hamilton." Hatter said courteously. The woman nodded to him.

---

"Please, take a seat, David." Carol motioned that he should sit on one of the chairs. "Dinner should be ready in just a few minutes." She turned towards her daughter. "Alice, when is this friend of yours coming?"

Hatter nearly sighed with relief. Carol seemed more irritated with the idea of a last minute guest than having her daughter's new boyfriend over. It was at start at least. If he could get her to just talk to him for awhile, he thought he could win over Carol. But he was going to have his work cut out for him.

"Who'd you invite, Alice?" he asked, as if he had no idea that Duchess was currently standing outside in the hallway, waiting to ring the doorbell until after Hatter was settled. Alice's smile let him know that she appreciated the trick, even if it was essentially self-serving.

"Duchess. I think I introduced you the other night." She commented, just as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Said Carol, who had gotten up to check the food. "You just sit down." Hatter thought he could smell some kind of roast in the kitchen. At least that was a fairly common dish in both worlds. The meat it was made out of might be different, but he couldn't imagine that it would change the flavor too much.

When Carol opened the door, Hatter could see Duchess. The woman had put on one of her new dresses, and was actually wearing a pair of sandals that Alice called "flip-flops."

"Oh, hello, this is Alice's apartment, right?" He had to hand it to her. Duchess was a good actress when she wanted to be.

---

Alice watched her mother closely. The woman recovered quickly from her shock at seeing Duchess. Alice wondered if shock was the first reaction anyone had to seeing the blonde beauty.

"Yes, this is. I'm Carol." _Well_, thought Alice,_ if Duchess was going to get to call her mom Carol, Hatter should be able to as well._

"Duchess, you made it! I was worried that I had written down the directions wrong." Alice jumped up from the couch and walked over to the door. "You remember Hatter, right?"

---

Hatter wondered when one of them was going to slip up. With one person, a lie was easy to maintain. But with the more people added to it, the more chance there was that one of them was going to get something wrong. It was the rule of secrets; each person involved added an exponential increase to the likelihood of someone catching on.

Considering that Duchess was regaling the table with stories of old boyfriends he was pretty certain she hadn't had, he figured that she knew well enough how to lie. Everyone in Wonderland knew that Duchess was Jack's girlfriend and no man had been brave enough to try the will of the Queen of Hearts by asking her out. Personally Hatter thought that some of the stories Duchess was telling came from those horrible programs she tended to watch on television during the day.

"What about you, David?" Carol asked. He noticed a gleam in her eye that made him realize that Carol might be a bit more intuitive about things than he had suspected at first.

"Excuse me?" He wasn't exactly sure what the question was. Carol smiled, while both Alice and Duchess looked a little worried.

"Tell us about your girlfriends." Was this typical behavior of mothers in this world? Or was Alice's mother crazy? Maybe she was just trying to poke holes in his relationship with Alice. That had to be it. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of him hanging around so much with her daughter. Alice had told him as much. Was it possible to convince her that he was a good guy? Was he a good guy?

The questions spun around in his head, while his mouth opened to answer.

"It's all pretty standard I guess. They couldn't take me anymore, or they disliked my job. One or two stated my hat as a main reason for the relationship failing. Something about the fact that I cared more about my hats than about them." In some cases that had even been true, much to his chagrin. He hoped that Alice wouldn't think that was true in their case.

"Most of them thought I could do better with my life. Construction work is all well and good, but it's not exactly the most respectable job." The edited, Alice's world version of his life was a lot easier to tell than to explain what exactly he had done with his life up until meeting Alice.

"Well, I certainly hope that Alice means more to you than your hat." Joked Duchess, and suddenly the tension eased.

---

"She certainly does." Alice barely heard the whispered remark over the clank of the dishes as her mother passed around the potatoes again. She ducked her head, hoping that no one would notice the fact that her cheeks were slightly pink.

---

**AN: **

Duchess watches way too many soap operas. It seemed to fit her personality. I can see her being utterly enthralled with them, even if she knew they were sometimes silly.

And we hear mention of some of Hatter's ex-girlfriends. I think that a lot of them would have either dated him for the fact that he seemed relatively prosperous, or the fact that they felt that they would be able to make him "honest." Which is why I think he likes Alice so much, she hasn't tried to change him.

Reviews? There's a button for that.


	18. Heartless

**Disclaimer:** Just an update, Syfy still won't let me have Hatter. So, he and the rest of the _Alice_ crew still belong to them.

---

**Heartless**

Alice looked good while blushing, Hatter realized. He filed that thought away with a reminder to himself to try to discover more ways to make the pretty Oyster turn red. He put down his knife and fork down on the plate before taking a sip from his glass. Things were going fairly well, so far Carol hadn't demanded that he never speak to her daughter again, and Duchess hadn't made a fool of them all by accidently letting something slip.

"At least Hatter isn't like Jack, that heartless bastard." Hatter choked at Duchess's proclamation. There it went, all of their careful planning and lies gone in an instant.

"You know Jack?" Asked Carol, finally seeming interested in Duchess's conversation. Hatter's choking turned into a coughing fit. Air wasn't coming fast enough or easy enough for him. He gratefully took his water from Alice's hands and gulped some down, hoping it would ease the spasms wracking his chest.

"Of course I know Jack. After what he put Alice through, he deserves whatever he gets."

---

Now it was Alice's turn to be startled. Was Duchess actually playing the part of her friend? The woman's indignation seemed genuine, but so had Jack's interest in Alice.

"Oh…" Carol looked at Hatter and Alice had a feeling that her mother was re-examining the man.

"I think it's great that Alice has moved on so quickly. From what I hear, Jack's made a habit of using women." Alice thought Duchess might be laying it on a bit thick, but it was interesting to hear the blonde talk about her fiancé like that.

"Well, Mom," she interrupted, "Do you need me to help you get the desert?" Everyone had finished eating during the discussion.

"Just grab the plates." Alice picked up the dirty dishes while her mom went into the kitchen.

"Was I convincing?" Asked Duchess, batting her eyelashes like some movie star. Alice noticed that Hatter was still staying silent. What was he thinking about? As she picked up his plate and cutlery, he brushed her hand with his just for a moment. With a smile on her face, Alice entered the kitchen.

"Well, I suppose I misjudged him." Carol began. "He seems honest." Alice nearly laughed at that comment. Honest was something she wasn't sure Hatter would ever be, but she liked him a bit crooked. "I like this Duchess girl too. It's good for you to have a girl around to talk to." Alice nodded her agreement. Maybe she and Duchess could be friends. Stranger things had happened.

"Mom, I'm going to spend the night at Duchess's place tonight." Alice hadn't asked either Duchess or Hatter about it, but she was fairly certain that they wouldn't mind too much. As much as she had been at their apartment in the last few days, it was starting to feel like home.

She watched as her mother tensed and then relaxed, going back to scooping ice-cream over the cobbler she had just pulled out of the oven.

"You're an adult, Alice." Her mother reminded her. That wasn't the issue. The issue was that Carol didn't like having Alice away from home. She had never really come to grips with the disappearance of her husband. They both knew it. Alice wasn't even certain that she was over it entirely yet. It helped knowing that he had been taken against his will and hadn't just walked away from them.

In that second, Alice knew that she would have to tell her mother. She needed to know the truth, and if that meant telling her the entire story of Wonderland, Alice would do it. But the time wasn't right. No time would be right, but she couldn't tell the story just yet.

Alice looked out the door of the kitchen, watching as Hatter and Duchess talked.

Her mother followed her gaze.

"So, are you two sleeping together?" She asked. Alice grabbed two plates of cobbler and gave her mother a wicked grin.

"Not yet."

---

If Hatter noticed the fact that Carol gave him worried glances all through desert, he didn't mention it. If he comprehended the glance that passed from mother to daughter as Alice got her coat on, it wasn't obvious. What was obvious was the fact that Duchess had caught on.

Hatter left first, since Alice would be going with Duchess. He waited in the hallway a few minutes for the two women, wondering what exactly Alice's mom would do if she knew that Duchess's apartment was also his.

Figuring that it was best not to dwell on disturbing images of being tortured with blunt kitchen implements, he decided to think of what color choices would be the best for the club. Red was nice, or orange… His inner debate over colors and furniture designs was interrupted by the girls emerging from the apartment.

"So? What now?" He asked, while pushing himself away from the wall he had been leaning against. He saw Alice watching Duchess with a wrinkle creasing the skin between her brows.

---

"Chocolate and cream cake." She said softly, looking at the woman beside her. Despite still looking elegant and poised, Duchess seemed sad. And after those comments about Jack…

---

It turned out that Duchess's version of "chocolate and cream cake" turned out to be Chinese food and ice-cream, a combination that made Alice feel a little ill watching the other girl eat.

Hatter had retreated into his room after wishing Alice luck. She thought she might need it. Girl talk was not something that came naturally to her. But it seemed like Duchess had to get whatever was bothering her off her chest.

And so, Alice tried to prompt the conversation while they both ate fried rice out of the carton.

"Did you mean what you said about Jack?" She asked tentatively. Duchess's fork stopped half-way to her mouth.

"Yes." She continued eating, but this time with a thoughtful expression. She set down her fork. "When you know someone as long as I've known Jack, you understand the fact that they have faults. Sometimes they're easier to accept than others." The same was true of any relationship, Alice realized, even her relationship with her mother.

"That doesn't sound very romantic." Alice commented, shifting to a carton of sweet and sour chicken. Duchess laughed, though it sounded forced.

"It isn't. I love Jack, but he's a bastard, and I'm willing to admit it." Duchess plunged her fork into a carton of mint chocolate chip ice-cream.

Alice felt sick watching Duchess plow through both ice-cream and Chinese food after the dinner that Alice's mother had fed them. Alice wondered if it was common in Wonderland to eat more food than in her world. After all, Hatter ate a lot as well.

"I couldn't stand him just ignoring me anymore. And now with his mother out of the picture, there's no one forcing him to marry me. It makes me so angry to think of how I served that bitch to stay close to him when now he won't even look at me." And with that, Duchess started to cry.

Alice did the only thing she knew how. She gathered Duchess in her arms (the way her father had held her after Dinah died) and let the woman cry.

---

**AN:**

Alice is a handful. It seems like Hatter's bad influence is wearing off on her a bit too much. I just hope that it doesn't lead to Carol being even worse towards Hatter.

I loved the comment in the show about "After much chocolate and cream cake, _like_ turns into: what was his name again?" I thought that it would be something Alice would remember too. In the show, I think that Duchess really did care for Jack, even though he treated her horribly. But I don't think that she would stick around for that if she didn't feel like she had to. The downfall of the Queen gave Duchess a certain amount of freedom in that respect.

By the way, thanks to the reviewers. You all make me think more carefully about things in the story and help me to figure out what's going to happen next.


	19. The Death of an Area Rug

**Disclaimer:** I in no way, shape or form own _Alice_. Just thought I should remind you.

---

**The Death of an Area Rug**

"Did everything go alright?" Hatter asked, peering over the top of the couch at Alice. He wouldn't mention to her the fact that her hair was an absolute mess and that her breath smelled horrible. He just leaned over further and kissed her on the cheek as her eyes opened.

"'Suppose so…" She murmured sleepily. He smiled and looked around at the room. Duchess was lying on the floor, curled up with one of the couch cushions. Some of the Chinese food cartons were still open and on the coffee table. It would have been nice if they could have put the food away, but he figured from the crying that he had heard that they had been thinking about other things.

He picked up a carton and sniffed at it, before pulling out a piece of sweet and sour chicken. He popped it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Alice sat up.

Hatter was tempted to ask exactly what the women had been talking about that prompted such theatrics, but he knew they wouldn't answer. Only one thing could cause tears like that on such short notice, a male.

"I feel disgusting." Alice stated. Hatter silently vowed not to agree with that comment, no matter how funny it would be to see Alice's reaction. Even if she looked like living death, he would still never say a thing.

The unappealing sound of Duchess gagging reached his ears. He looked over in time to see her vomit all over the area rug. The smell was overpowering.

"That's not my responsibility." He said quickly, hoping that he wouldn't get wrangled into cleaning up the mess.

---

Alice nearly gagged herself as Duchess ran to the bathroom to continue throwing up. Alice promised herself that she would never eat ice-cream and Chinese food together ever again if only she didn't start throwing up as well.

"I'll handle it." It wasn't something that she wanted to do. But after the night before, she viewed Duchess as a friend. And what were friends for if not to clean up after you got sick? At least that's what Alice had to tell herself.

Duchess was sick for most of the rest of the morning, causing Alice to question if she had gotten food poisoning. But they had eaten all of the same food. Alice just hoped that Duchess and Hatter weren't more susceptible to colds in her world. Thankfully Hatter hadn't so much as sneezed since he arrived, let alone vomited everywhere.

"I'm sorry about the rug, Hatter." Alice cringed in sympathy at how raw Duchess's voice sounded. Constant gagging would cause anyone's throat to be sore, especially when added to the coughing that usually accompanied violent vomiting.

---

"Not a problem. It was ugly anyway." The rug had been designed to look like a deck of cards had been spilled out on the floor. It was exactly the sort of thing that Hatter expected of a Heart. In fact, Hatter was rather glad that Alice's attempts at cleaning the area rug had failed. If he was going to stay here, he was going to have to get rid of Jack's things. In fact, he would take great pleasure in destroying them one by one. Not that anyone else would ever hear about it.

He tapped his pen on the paper in front of him. The appointment with the lawyer was scheduled for Monday but he didn't feel like he could just sit around the apartment that long, especially if Duchess was sick again. There were many things that he could stand in life, falling headlong into pits full of stakes, getting shot, and crash-landing in a lake all made the list. But he could not be around people who were sick to the point of vomiting. Injured was one thing, sick was entirely different.

"I'm going out." He said, pulling on his coat and setting his hat on his head.

---

Alice didn't comment on Hatter's departure. If he felt like leaving, that was fine for now. But he had better come back soon. Her bedside manner wasn't exactly the most developed in the world.

By mid-afternoon, Duchess looked a bit better and she was able to keep food down (a relief to Alice who had had to clean up again after Duchess's failed attempt at eating breakfast). They watched television together, laughing at the dramas that played out before them.

"Life seems simpler here." Duchess finally admitted. "I don't have to pretend to be someone else to do what I want. You know, I only served the Queen because it let me stay close to Jack. She used to threaten me with finding him a different fiancé if I didn't spy for her. I guess I wasn't ready to give him up yet." She said this all with her eyes pointed at the screen.

Alice didn't comment. Within the last few hours, she had learned a lot more about Duchess than she had ever thought to know. The woman had depths that Alice hadn't guessed at and a heart that she had very wisely hidden away for years.

Alice wondered if she would give up everything that she cared for and even risk Hatter's hatred just to be able to have the chance to be near him. It seemed like such a strange thing to do. But if Duchess was right, the blonde's willingness to serve the Queen had protected Jack more times than it had harmed him.

"I think you made the right choices." Alice answered, once she realized that her opinion was being sought on the matter. The pale, sick woman smiled.

"I'm glad you think so, Alice." There was no sarcasm in Duchess's tone. "It's nice to have someone I can talk to about this." Alice found that she had to agree. Even if they had just complained about men for most of the night, it had been relaxing. Both of them had been able to vent about the problems that Jack had caused. Neither of them mentioned his current role in their lives as benefactor. It was easier to make him the villain than to admit that in some ways they still needed him.

Alice's fingers caught in her hair as she tried to brush it out of her eyes. She cursed, realizing that she still hadn't taken a shower, brushed her teeth or combed her hair. She slid off the couch, draping the blanket that had been in her lap over Duchess.

"Jack doesn't know yet." Duchess's slurred together as she drifted off to sleep.

And all Alice could think was, _Jack doesn't know what?_

---

**AN:**

Why can't I just make things easy for them? The answer is, because I am evil. Well, not entirely, but I can still toy with them a bit.

First off, my theory on Jack's decorating skills is that they would tend towards gaudy and disturbing. Just look at the oversized round white bed that he is lying on in the show.

And secondly, vomiting until you start coughing with the force of gagging is one of the worst feelings.

Remember, reviews make the world go 'round… Well, they at least inspire me to write.


	20. What Jack Didn't Know

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ belongs to Syfy. I'm still trying to figure out how to fix that.

---

**What Jack Didn't Know**

Getting through the Looking Glass was easy. Without stumbling or falling, Hatter landed on the other side and adjusted his tie as the Suits surrounded him. Now that he knew they were under Charlie's command, he wasn't as worried about their reaction to his unexpected appearance.

"Charlie!" Hatter called out, seeing the knight working on a new invention in the corner of the room. It looked like some form of winch attached to a track. And with Charlie's inventions, who knew what it was supposed to do.

Convincing Charlie to fly the Scarab to Jack's home was a bit more difficult. Apparently the guard was supposed to stay at the Glass instead of helping Hatter make his way to meet the king. Not that the king had any clue that he was coming.

Making the Aces that guarded the door think that he was an invited visitor took a bit of work. He claimed that things weren't going well with acquiring the warehouse. Which was more or less true, he consoled himself. The poor men didn't know that they were going to get in trouble for letting him through, but that wasn't really his problem.

Punching Jack in the gut made it all worth the effort.

The blond man gasped for breath while Hatter shook out his right hand. Using that extra burst of power for a punch always made his hand tingle a bit.

Thankfully the two men were alone in Jack's office, without anyone to witness the fact that their king had just gotten hit by his supposed business associate.

"So that was your plan? Make Alice and I take care of your problem?" Hatter pushed Jack into the desk chair, where the man continued to breathe heavily. Pale eyes flashed dangerously.

"What… are… you… talking about?" Asked Jack, gasping between his words. His hands were clutching at his stomach and Hatter knew that the snob would have quite a colorful bruise there soon.

"The fact that your girlfriend is sitting on my couch, throwing up because she's going to have your kid." Hatter said, feeling a bit calmer now that he had hit Jack. It had been a thoroughly satisfying experience.

"My what?" Jack looked more confused than angry now.

Hatter stood completely still. Jack didn't know? Hatter had been listening to Duchess throwing up for the past few mornings, but he had only realized what was going on when she had vomited on the rug. The reason why Duchess ate so much had finally made sense.

Shit.

---

"I'm going to be a father?" Asked Jack about three minutes later. Both men had stayed silent until then, even when Hatter sat down in one of the chairs in front of Jack's desk.

"That's generally what happens when you get someone pregnant." Hatter wasn't in a terribly forgiving mood. From the crying the night before, he thought that Jack might have been even worse of a boyfriend to Duchess than he had been to Alice.

It's not like he had come to Wonderland to tell Jack to make an honest woman out of Duchess. A shared zygote hardly seemed like the ideal basis for a marriage. He had just wanted answers. Such as why Jack had thought it was a good idea to throw a pregnant woman into a world she knew nothing about with two people who knew next to nothing about her.

But apparently that hadn't been Jack's plan at all.

"I shouldn't have let her go." The king sounded almost wistful. "You'll send her back through the Glass as soon as you return, of course." Hatter chose to ignore the fact that the statement was more of a command.

"No, I won't." Hatter got up to leave, hoping that time was going more slowly in Alice's world than here. If he went missing for days, he doubted she would forgive him anytime soon. He turned towards Jack just as he was about to walk through the door. "Why did you send her?" It was a question that had been nagging at Hatter from the moment Duchess had arrived.

"She has quite a head for numbers. I thought you could use a business manager." Hatter would believe that when Jabberwockies learned to tap-dance.

"Just don't send anyone else through for awhile." Hatter called out as he left, knowing that the guards would take it as the end of a conversation about buying the warehouse.

Walking out the front door of the grand estate, Hatter realized just how much trouble he was going to be in for telling Jack exactly what Duchess had been trying to hide from him. He just hoped that the women wouldn't team up against him. Maybe telling them he had hit Jack would help some.

---

Alice wasn't at the apartment when Hatter got back, a fact that he was grateful for. But Duchess was there.

"So, how is Jack?" She asked, seeming relatively calm and looking a lot better than she had that morning. He had to hand it to her, she was smart.

"Well enough. I had to talk to him about some of the procedures involved with getting a lawyer." The woman raised her eyebrow and Hatter winced. Damn, why did he have to live with someone who actually seemed capable of seeing through his lies? At least Alice didn't tell him when she knew that he was lying, she just accepted it.

"I told him…" He admitted.

"I thought as much. How'd he take it?" Her hand rested protectively on her stomach.

Hatter flopped down on the couch next to Duchess.

"You know, life was a lot more boring before Alice." He commented, thinking about all the things that had happened since that pretty girl in the wet dress had shown up in his office. He'd helped save Wonderland and now he had to deal with a pregnant woman, something he had always avoided if possible in the past.

"After he recovered from the punch I gave him, he seemed pretty surprised about the whole thing." Duchess nodded at Hatter's pronouncement.

"Good, if he didn't suspect, then no one else probably does either."

---

**AN:**

Full title for this chapter is "What Jack Didn't Know… Still Hurt Him"

Good work to the readers who figured out all my hints. Yes, Duchess is pregnant. I liked the idea and there needed to be a reason for Duchess to have left Wonderland. And since so many people mentioned the fact that they would like to see Jack get hit, I had to throw that in as well.

Any comments or questions are welcome.


	21. A Pain in the Paperwork

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ is owned by Syfy. Yada yada yada… Onto the story!

---

**A Pain in the Paperwork**

Ms. Olivia Horvath was an excellent lawyer. Hatter could tell that even before he met her. Her offices were located in what Alice assured him was a highly stylish business district, and her last name was one of the ones included in the title of the firm that she worked for. If these two pieces of evidence didn't convince him, the well-trained receptionist (that led them to Ms. Horvath's personal office at precisely the time dictated by their appointment) did. No one who didn't do well could afford to hire a receptionist that good, or afford to run their appointments on time either.

Ms. Horvath stood up from behind her desk to greet them. Her black hair was straight and fanned across her shoulders as she moved.

Hatter's fashion conscious eye decided that her dark blue skirt suit and shoes must have cost more than some people made in a month, or even a year. He wasn't exactly certain what the average income was around here (though people generally seemed quite prosperous compared to Wonderland).

"Your message with my receptionist said that you know Jack Chase." She said, cutting directly to the point of their visit. The way her voice lingered over the name "Chase" made Hatter realize that she probably knew Jack's other last name as well.

"We're on speaking terms, generally." Commented Hatter, dryly. He hoped that Jack's advice when it came to this lawyer was good. Nothing could go wrong with this meeting. He had to get everything set up if he was going to be allowed to stay in this world. So, Duchess was back at the apartment, vomiting yet again, while Alice stood by his side in the posh office.

"My name's Alice Hamilton and this is David Hatter. Jack wanted us to acquire some land for a private business venture." Hatter winced at the use of his name. Why did everyone in this world require the use of a first name? In Wonderland, people generally just went by their titles or a nickname. Caterpillar never went by his real name (not that anyone knew it) and Hatter didn't feel like he should be forced to either. But, it was the social custom here, no matter how inane he thought it was.

"More land?" A fleeting look of surprise passed over Ms. Horvath's face. Hatter wondered exactly how much Jack had purchased in his time in this world. Or had his mother had him buy land? The machinations of the royal family had always been kept secret from the inhabitants of Wonderland, except for terribly obvious things, such as the Casino. But Hatter wouldn't have put it past the Queen to have a whole series of plans besides the public ones.

"A warehouse. And one that isn't actually completed yet." Hatter specified.

As the woman took her seat again, Alice and Hatter did the same. Their chairs were considerably less comfortable than hers looked. But Hatter figured that every piece of furniture in this office was probably at the height of style. The figure that Jack had listed for retaining Ms. Horvath's services could certainly pay to keep her furniture in fashion.

---

"To be honest, I thought you had come about some of the other purchases that Jack had been looking into. But then again, I should have known that if that was the case, he would have come himself." She looked a bit disappointed and Alice wondered if she wasn't yet another woman who had been played by Jack.

Alice didn't know how much the woman knew about Wonderland, but she was determined not to give anything away.

"I'll tell Jack that he might want to stop by the next time he's in town. But the warehouse is actually going to belong to Mr. Hatter." Alice couldn't help it. She felt incapable of calling him "David" if the situation didn't demand it. But it also felt too strange to just call him "Hatter" in front of this neatly made-up and terribly expensive lawyer.

"Oh, that explains it then." Stated the woman, and Alice noticed that the area around her mouth and eyes wrinkled deeply when she smiled. Wrinkles like that only occurred when someone was used to smiling a lot. Alice decided that even if Jack was an ass, people who associated with him weren't always the same.

Alice listened as Hatter explained about the warehouse and what he wanted to do with it while Ms. Horvath took notes on the tablet laptop that she held in her lap.

"Hmm… This shouldn't be too difficult. I've dealt with Farber and Martin before, a decent construction firm, but they have no idea how to run a business." The professionally dressed woman tapped the computer stylus against her lips. "It should only take a phone call. Jasper owes me a few favors. Though getting all the paperwork squared away for the club might take a little longer."

---

They determined that if at all possible the construction should be completed by Farber and Martin Builders. That would sooth some of the owners' egos and make certain that there weren't mistakes when one company took over from another. Hatter realized that it was good that the paperwork was going to take awhile, since he was going to need to get the interior designed to code. Though he found that that would require even more paperwork.

Nothing could be done in this world without paperwork. The more he had to deal with it, the more he hated that fact. But it was better than paying bribes (though some of the fees and taxes sounded suspiciously like them to him). He kept his mouth shut on that score.

---

As they were leaving the office, Alice saw Hatter smiling slightly. His hat slipped down his arm and landed on her head.

"What's all this about?" She asked, a bit worried by his display. She touched the brim of the hat, causing it to slip down over her ears. Alice admitted that she liked that he had plots and schemes, it made her know that he was settling in, but she was still concerned that some of his ideas might get them into serious trouble.

"I was just thinkin' that I'm going to be a respectable business man soon." He laughed. "It's a worrisome thought." She smiled, remembering how many times she had considered the same thing in the last few days.

"You know? I agree."

---

The ride back to Hatter's apartment took place in silence, excluding giving the cab driver directions when they got in and paying the fare at the end.

Hatter hoped that being respectable and giving up his old life would make him worthy of Alice. He had liked the fact that playing both the Resistance and the Hearts had kept him on his toes, but here, just being around Alice did that. He didn't need the excitement of running scams anymore, or smuggling things in his boat. He just needed Alice's approval, which she gave to him with every smile.

They walked into the apartment, to find Duchess sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, reading.

"You're back already? I guess it went well then." She set the book on the coffee table, but Hatter noticed that Alice's eyes never left the book.

The brunette walked over to the table and picked it up, exposing the cover for him to see.

Baby Names.

Well, Alice had to find out sometime.

---

**AN:**

Olivia Horvath is obviously an original character. She is strangely enough named after Olivia from Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_ and Dorotea Horvath in Anne McCaffrey's _To Ride Pegasus. _I suppose that this shows some of my eclectic taste in reading materials.

The construction company Farber and Martin is completely made up. And Jasper Martin is one of the owners if anyone was wondering why the lawyer was going to call in a favor.

And if you all haven't noticed so far, I have a hatred of paperwork. Have you ever noticed exactly how much paperwork that you have to fill out to get anything done? I can see it driving Hatter crazy, since Wonderland doesn't seem to have any such organizational structure from we see in the show.

If you have anything you want to ask, go ahead. I'll answer what I can, as long as it doesn't give too much away.


	22. A Fairytale Fool

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ is owned by some company who changed their name recently to something that doesn't really make sense when you think about the words that the name is supposed to come from…

---

**A Fairytale Fool**

"Surprise." Commented Duchess, toying with the fringed edge of the blanket in her lap.

Surprise didn't even begin to cover it, thought Alice dully. Shock sounded like a better word. There was no way that she had seen this coming. Well, the vomiting may have been a clue, but still. It's not like Duchess looked pregnant. The woman was still had the same flat abs as she had had when Alice first saw her.

Alice wondered long Duchess had been pregnant. With all the time shifts between Wonderland and the real world, it would be a pain to try to figure out. Didn't women start to show somewhere around three months? But then again, she had heard stories about women who had babies without gaining any weight or showing the pregnancy at all. At times like this, Alice thought that having more female friends might have come in handy.

"Wasn't expecting that." Of course Alice had never quite understood why Duchess had come to her world, but if she was pregnant, that gave an entirely new spin to the blonde's actions since she arrived.

---

"Umm… I think I'm going to get something to drink." Hatter commented when he saw Alice just standing there with a confused look on her face. This was not a conversation that he wanted any part of.

He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. It was one of the alcoholic drinks that he had taken rather well to since his arrival. Assuming, of course, that he didn't imbibe too much of it. He still wasn't exactly sure that he liked the sensation of not being able to move his body at normal speed.

Even though Hatter had decided to stay out of the conversation he kept to the main room of the apartment in case either of the women needed his help. He remembered a time when he would have been less thoughtful, a time when he would have just told them to fight it out. That time had been about two weeks ago. It was amazing how much someone could change when put in the right circumstances.

---

"I knew before I left Wonderland. But I wasn't sure how you two would take it." Duchess's hands were clasped over her abdomen. She looked a bit nervous and Alice wondered if the woman thought that she was going to lash out at her. "It's Jack's." That went without saying. From the way that Duchess talked about Jack, it was clear that she was in love with him, even if she might flirt with other men.

"Good, because if I thought it was Hatter's, I would have had to kill you." With that remark, both women burst into laughter.

---

Hatter looked between them. This was just another example of how men had absolutely no idea what was going on when women talked. He wondered if there was some secret code that they were all taught as girls, just to confuse the men in their lives.

"Well, now that that's settled…" he began. Both women ignored him. He chuckled softly and rolled his eyes.

"You're going to need a doctor." Commented Alice and he saw that she glanced over at him and blushed slightly. He wondered what exactly that was about.

---

Talking about taking Duchess to see an obstetrician with Hatter in the room was a bit strange. And it made Alice wonder how calm Hatter would be if he found out that he was going to be a father. It was a pleasant image to dwell on. The idea of kids with Hatter's impish smile caused her heart to tighten. Now that was a future she was willing to fight for.

Duchess was smiling, and Alice could see why people said that pregnant women glowed. Duchess seemed so confident and pleased with herself that it was infectious. If Duchess wanted to have her child away from Jack and Wonderland, Alice was going to do everything in her power to make that possible.

---

Hatter found himself shooed from the apartment with Alice in tow. Duchess had made some comment that just because they knew she was pregnant didn't mean they had to hang around if they didn't want to. He wasn't sure if it was the fabled mood swings that accompanied pregnancy or if Duchess was being perceptive.

"She seems happy." Alice's voice was almost wistful. Did she wish that she were the one that was going to have Jack's child? He couldn't see that being the case.

How was he supposed to respond to that statement? Of course Duchess was happy. From everything she had said, she sounded absolutely ecstatic that she was going to be a mother.

"You know, I always thought I would find a guy who would sweep me off my feet." Her voice was soft and he had to lean in to hear her over the sound of the cars driving by as they walked down the street. "That stupid fairytale romance that girls always dream of."

Hatter had heard the children's tales just like anyone else growing up. He knew he wasn't exactly the hero, a prince or a knight. In the real world, Jack was the prince, Charlie was the knight, and that left him playing something like the role of a jester. He guessed that any woman would be disappointed to end up with the fool instead of the prince.

"But I think this is better." She finished, leaning in to give him a brief kiss on the lips.

At that moment, Hatter swore that he was going to ask this girl to marry him someday. He wasn't sure when, or how, but it would happen. He wanted to make Alice his, so that no other man would ever know what it felt like to have her smiling up at him.

---

"Well, you weren't exactly a damsel in distress, now were you?" He asked cheekily. She laughed, remembering how she had demanded everyone help her when she usually ignored the advice that they gave.

Her time in Wonderland had taught her just how many of her fears she had refused to face. And it had given her an idea of just how many things she had been missing out on in life.

---

They walked down the sidewalk, acting like any of the other couples around them. In moments like this, Hatter felt that he really did belong in her world.

Maybe the fool really could be prince charming.

---

**AN:**

I could see Hatter being completely confused by interactions between women. Sometimes they even confuse me, and I am one. Alice seems a bit more rough and rowdy than most women though, which is part of the reason that I think she works so well with Hatter. She's not afraid to get dirty or do something distasteful. After all, she did eat the food that Charlie gave her without even knowing what it was.

And of course, Hatter has decided that he is going to marry Alice. Of course she doesn't know it yet. And she probably won't hear about it for awhile. Hatter's doubts about their relationship would be effectively silenced if she said "yes" when he proposed. He's just afraid that she'll think she made a mistake. But he's not above capitalizing on that mistake. He is Hatter after all.

Reviews make the wheels in my head continue to turn…


	23. Of Peppers and Pickpockets

**Disclaimer:** So many things that I wish I owned… though only the plot is my own.

---

**Of Peppers and Pickpockets**

They went out to dinner. This time, Hatter chose the restaurant. He wasn't exactly certain what Thai food was, but he felt up to anything.

The inside of the restaurant was almost overwhelming. Bright colors and mirrors seemed to make the small space bigger while the curious statues kept drawing his attention. The effect was decidedly unlike anything he had ever seen.

He set his hat down on the table, feeling as if it would be impolite to eat with it on here. It was a considerably nicer restaurant than the one they had gone to have pizza in. Come to think of it, he should get Alice to take him back there. None of the pepperoni pizza that they had gotten delivered tasted quite the same.

Hatter noticed Alice's hand on the table cloth, sneaking closer to the brim of his hat. He had noticed her fascination with his hats. Anytime one was nearby and not on his head, she was trying to touch it. To say it was distracting would be an understatement. Usually no one was allowed to touch his hats. But he found that with her, he didn't mind. If that wasn't love, he didn't know what was.

Did he really love her? He wondered, a bit in awe of the idea. He wanted to be with her no matter what happened, he would give up everything for her, he wanted to marry her and he was willing to let her touch his hats. _Yes_, he concluded, _I'm in love with her_.

She smiled at him, not knowing what he was thinking about. He was grateful for that fact.

"So, how does Thai food taste exactly?" Her smile broadened.

---

She didn't warn him about the stars by items on the menu. If he didn't read the warning that a star meant "hot and spicy" that was his own fault. In fact, when he first bit into the food, she found the look on his face to be hilarious.

The fact that gulped down his drink and then stole hers as well made her smile at him. She watched as she fanned his mouth.

"Here…" Alice dished some of the noodles from her plate onto his.

---

He ate them greedily, trying to put out the fire in his mouth. Spice burned every part of his tongue, making him wish he could scrape his taste buds off. Was there any way to make the pain stop?

Hatter wondered if he dared to continue to eat his food. Alice reached over towards his plate and plucked some red bits from the top of it.

"Don't eat these." She whispered. Everywhere around them, people were staring.

She hadn't warned him. She hadn't stopped him from eating that burning red peppers. Alice had played a trick on him. It wasn't something that he had expected. He was going to have to keep a closer eye on her, and pay more attention to things (he thought he might have seen something about "spicy" on the menu).

"The rest of it should be ok. I made that mistake the first time I ate here too."

Had she? Or was it all just a prank?

---

They finished their dinner, but they didn't talk very much throughout the rest of it. Hatter had his water refilled multiple times, gulping it down quickly each time. His mouth still throbbed and occasionally his tongue would run over an area of his mouth where the flavor of the pepper was still in full swing.

"I didn't quite expect that from you." Commented Hatter as they left the restaurant. This time he had been the one to pay the bill.

"Come on, you can't seriously think that I won't play some tricks on you." Alice shot back. There was something like a challenge in her eyes and he was eager to accept it. Life with Alice would never be boring. Each day he learned something new about her that he hadn't expected. And he wanted to keep learning about her every moment that he could.

"You are just as mad as Charlie is, you know that?"He murmured. "Box of frogs and all." He settled his hat on top of his head and continued down the sidewalk.

He heard Alice's footsteps behind him, trying to catch up to his longer strides. It was nice to walk down a sidewalk with Alice without having her panic that there was a ledge right beside her. Falling off a sidewalk here would only mean getting hit by a car. He wasn't exactly sure why she found that more reassuring.

They walked to her apartment, dodging people talking on cell phones and carrying giant shopping bags. It was strange to live in such an active city, one where people roamed outside freely and without fear of the people around them. Certainly some people were suspicious of others, but most seemed too caught up in their own worlds to notice much.

A man ran into Hatter, almost knocking him over and kept walking without even an apology. Instinctively, Hatter checked his pockets. There were plenty of petty crooks in Wonderland, even if he generally thought himself above all of that. After all, smuggling sounded a lot more refined than being a pickpocket.

His wallet was gone. That damned folded bit of leather that Alice had insisted he have was missing.

Hatter took off after the man. He hadn't had much money in the wallet, and from what he read about his credit card, he could just report it stolen. But it was the principle of the thing. He had just been robbed and nobody robbed Hatter.

He ran past shops, and businesses, passing children and adults in his pursuit of the thief. He ran for blocks, occasionally hearing Alice's voice calling out behind him. He knew she would figure out what happened, maybe she was even calling the police that she was so insistent that he not get on the bad side of.

No matter, he would get his wallet back.

His hand snagged the back of the man's brown coat, pulling him into a side alley.

"If I could just have my wallet back." Hatter prompted, done with the theatrics for the day. He had just wanted to walk Alice home and maybe kiss her before heading back to his apartment. Now, his relatively good mood was gone.

The pulse of energy built up in his fist and the muscles screamed in protest, demanding that he release the tension. But before he could, he saw a flash of something shiny in the man's hand.

---

Alice heard the gunshot. It was too familiar of a sound after her time in Wonderland. She knew Hatter didn't have a gun on him.

Her legs stretched out longer, trying to go as fast as she could. She didn't care if she wasn't supposed to fight anyone except in self-defense. If Hatter was hurt, she was going to kill someone. And she wasn't even certain if that was an empty threat.

Alice ran into the alley to see two men slumped against opposite walls. As much as she wanted to run straight over to Hatter to see if he was alright, she approached the other man first.

She picked the gun out of his hand by the barrel, careful not to point it at any of them. Even if the man looked to be unconscious, she wasn't leaving him with a gun. She certainly didn't want to get shot in the back while making sure her boyfriend was alright.

---

Hatter moaned and tried to sit up.

"One of these days, I'm going to get to be the one who shoots someone." He complained, unbuttoning his shirt and checking his body armor. It was like a second skin for him and even after living in her world, he still refused to take it off when he went outside. Today had proven just how right he was.

But then again, he had been stupid to follow the man. Oh well, he wasn't hurt too badly. At worst, maybe he had a broken rib. And of course the fact that his hand had that damned tingling sensation again. At least it had gotten him out of this mess.

---

**AN:**

The chapter title is influenced by the "of cabbages and kings" from the poem that the Walrus and the Carpenter say in the _Alice in Wonderland_ animated movie. (I need to get around to reading the books someday, just so I can know what actually happens in them.)

Sorry for the random plot Jabberwockies in this chapter. I couldn't deny them. So, we have Hatter eating Thai food and getting shot again.

The Thai food incident is based on real events. Always remember to check to make sure that the food isn't spicier than you can handle.

I think Hatter wouldn't stop being paranoid even if he was in this world. So, the body armor remains. He didn't know he was at risk the day that Alice showed up at the Tea Shoppe, but he was already wearing the vest, so I figure he would still wear it.

Alice's thoughts on hurting the shooter are kind of conflicted. Black belts have to be careful about fighting, since they do know a lot more about combat than normal people. And there can be legal issues involved in them harming others. However Hatter doesn't have any such moral dilemma. He doesn't mind using his "sledgehammer" hand when he needs to.

Ask questions! I have answers! Most of the time anyway…


	24. She Would Follow

**Disclaimer:** I most definitely do not own _Alice_. Only the bits that don't sound familiar from the show belong to me.

---

**She Would Follow**

The NYPD was less than impressed with Hatter. They seemed to think that he was a pimp, or a drug dealer. And all of this was based on his clothes, and the fact that he had been wearing body armor while just walking down the street in New York. Apparently nobody walked around wearing body armor unless they were in trouble of some sort. Sure, Hatter wasn't dead (he was pleased with that), but now the police were taking an unhealthy interest in him.

"I'm telling you, he stole David's wallet and David started chasing him." repeated Alice. The officer who was asking Alice about her version of events wrote everything she said in a notebook.

"And what about you, sir?" asked one of the officers. The thief had been taken away already, for which Hatter was grateful. He was tempted to punch the man again for the damage that the bullet had done to his shirt.

"The man ran into me and when I checked, my wallet was gone. I decided to follow him." Next time, he swore that he was just going to let his wallet get taken. This was too much effort. Not to mention the fact that getting shot at was not on his list of favorite activities. "I pulled him into the alley to ask for my wallet back and he took out a gun. Then I punched him and the gun went off." He said, pointing to the hole in his shirt. The bullet would have pierced at least one vital organ if he hadn't been wearing the vest.

Before the cops had arrived, Alice had checked him for injury, even though he had already done so. It was nice that she was so worried about him. And this time she hadn't even cursed him for the fact that she thought he was really injured. She had just kissed him.

"And why exactly are you wearing body armor?" This was the question Hatter knew the cop was waiting for. The fact that he had sent a man flying across an alley with one punch had been hard enough to believe for the officers, even if there had been witnesses. Apparently some of the people from the sidewalk had actually paid attention when he pulled the thief down the side alley.

Hatter didn't exactly want to admit to the police that he had been shot before. Or that he was more or less used to being treated like a criminal. And he didn't want to lie. He wasn't sure how close of an inspection the paperwork that Jack had given him would hold up to.

---

"David's used to working in some pretty tough areas of the city. He does construction work, when there are jobs available." said Alice, cutting in for Hatter. The officer that had been questioning her didn't seem to mind too much.

One of the cops nodded. The lie was more believable than some. And it didn't paint Hatter as too paranoid. Or at least she hoped it didn't.

She put her hand in his. She had been scared when the gun had gone off. But she promised herself that she would never again question Hatter's desire to wear his vest in public. If he hadn't been wearing it, he might be dead. But he might not have been foolish enough to follow the thief if he hadn't been wearing it. That reasoning wouldn't get her anywhere though.

"Will you be pressing charges?" Asked a female officer. The woman was practically salivating over Hatter. Alice tightened her grip on his hand. She glared at the officer, hoping that it wouldn't get her into trouble, even as she staked her claim on Hatter.

---

"Umm… I suppose I should." The man had pulled out a gun after all. And Alice had told him that people took things like that relatively seriously around here. He had a nasty feeling that it was going to mean even more paperwork though.

"Ok, I think that's all we need for now. We'll be calling you in the next few days." Hatter was certain that they would, and just as certain that he wasn't exactly going to like this, even if he was on the right side of the law in this case.

Hatter and Alice walked away. Most of the other witnesses were already gone and only a few onlookers had stayed around during the questioning.

It took a half an hour to make it back down the blocks that Hatter and Alice had run up just over an hour before. Hatter noticed that the look on Alice's face seemed worried. But he wasn't going to call her out on it. She had a right to be worried. He was getting reckless. First he had run off to Wonderland to hit Jack and now he had gone after a mugger. Neither action had been thought out at all.

He caught her up in his arms outside the door of her apartment.

Hatter looked down into her eyes, noticing the fact that her make-up, so carefully applied that morning, had smudged badly over the course of the day. And nothing could look more perfect to him in that moment.

He felt alive (it was strange how getting shot could do that). He wanted to prove to her that he was alright; that the bullet hadn't done any lasting harm. He wanted to tell her that it would never happen again, but in his life promises like that didn't add up to much.

And so, he kissed her.

His lips closed hungrily over hers. And his arms pulled her closer to him, trying to prove by touch what she should already know. He was safe. He could feel the pressure of her hands between their bodies, but he couldn't tell through the vest what exactly she was doing with them. Was she trying to push him away? Or was she feeling the area where the bullet should have pierced through his skin?

Hatter didn't care. He just wanted to feel her closer to him. His lips left hers and he pulled her instead into a hug, letting her head drop to his shoulder.

---

_How long will the fear last?_ She wondered. _How long will every move that Hatter makes convince me that he's going to leave?_ They were questions that she couldn't answer. She wanted to know that someday she would get over the fear. It didn't matter if he left her of his own free will or if something happened to pull him away from her. Her fear was that someday he just wouldn't be there anymore.

And that's what she had feared in the alley. That some low-life had done what all the Aces and Suits in the Queen's deck of cards couldn't do, she had thought that the man had killed Hatter.

She bit her lip, knowing that Hatter couldn't see with her head pressed against his neck.

No one was going to take Hatter away from her. Not even Hatter. If he tried to leave, she would follow. She was done letting men walk away from her.

---

**AN:**

Sorry, the idea of the police thinking that Hatter was a drug dealer or a pimp was too fun to pass up mentioning. He is kind of a shady guy after all. I don't blame the police for thinking he might be up to something.

Alice is getting kind of protective of Hatter now that she's decided that they are going to be together. Don't worry; she's not going to let him go, even if all the forces of Wonderland try to pull him away from her. Alice's last internal rant isn't meant to be angst ridden, just contemplative. She does have to come to terms with her fear of men leaving before they can have a relationship, and her way of doing that is to decide to follow him if he leaves

Today starts the Name Duchess's Baby Contest. If you review, just leave a name that you think would be good for the baby and list if the name is for a boy or a girl. Then I'll go through the names and pick the suggestion that I think fits the story the best.

So if you have names for the contest, questions or just want to chat about something you liked, leave a review.


	25. An Attempt at Greatness

**Disclaimer**: No one at Syfy has anything to do with this fic, unless of course it is the creators of _Alice_ for inspiring far too many plot ideas.

---

**An Attempt at Greatness**

Jack paced back and forth in his office, contemplating getting back to the paperwork that was on his desk. There were so many demands on his time, interviews, conferences, and of course correcting the problems that his mother had made. He was really trying to be a good monarch, unlike his mother. He had never seen her work on any form of paperwork, or anything that might have been construed as useful. All she cared about was instant gratification for herself and for her people.

Apparently taking responsibility for things required a lot more effort.

The people of Wonderland were on the knife's edge. Many were pleased to be free of the need for tea, but many others still wanted to feel what they wanted when they wanted. He had even had reports of groups that were planning to remove him from the throne.

Jack sat back down at his desk, considering the paperwork. They were applications for use of the Looking Glass. Many people wanted to go through the Glass in hopes of finding a better life on the other side. But he couldn't sign off on any of the applications until Hatter told him that the refugees would have somewhere to work and earn money on the other side.

At least in this case, Jack was hoping that Hatter would succeed. He didn't know why Alice had been foolish enough to choose a criminal over a prince. But then again, now that Jack thought about it, he doubted that Alice would have cared very much for marrying him just to find out that Duchess was going to have his child.

Jack moved the applications to the corner of his desk. He would send someone through in a month or so to check on the progress of the project.

---

It turned out that Jack hadn't exactly lied to Hatter. Duchess was quite good with numbers. But over the next few days, as he accompanied her and Alice around the city on various errands, he realized that she was quite good with people as well. She was able to make them believe what she wanted with minimum effort. Hatter figured that the skill probably came from years of making sure that the Queen didn't kill or replace her.

But as entertaining as it was to watch Duchess interact with other people, it was more fun to watch Alice. The young woman was in her element, making sure that he turned in all the paperwork and acting as a secretary when he needed one.

The warehouse was officially his now. And he didn't have to worry anymore about the furniture that he had stashed there. But it was still the Looking Glass that created the most problems. He wasn't certain that he could move the Glass without breaking it. Though, Hatter figured it could easily get damaged in the construction as well.

---

"You know, the Queen had to have moved it occasionally. The warehouse hasn't been around very long." commented Alice, looking over a mound of receipts. Thankfully she had Duchess to help her figure everything out when Hatter brought back balled up receipts. But he didn't exactly explain what some of the items were. She wasn't certain which part of the budget to put them under, or even if they had anything to do with the club at all.

"But I don't know if there is anything special that we need to do. I don't want to move it just to find out that it no longer works." Hatter said looking up from the clipboard he had been working on. Alice decided that once everything was set up, she was going to get Hatter a laptop. She was sick of watching him take hand written notes just to struggle to put them in the computer later. Maybe a typing class would be good too. The two fingered pecking that he called typing was not going to get him anywhere fast.

"Why don't we just build a box around it and your other things before the construction beings again?" Alice looked over at Duchess. The suggestion was the best that any of them had yet thought of.

"As long as we put a door in the box so that visitors can get through it they need to." Alice added to the idea.

---

Hatter kind of liked the idea of Jack or one of his supporters getting stuck inside a box. But if Alice wanted a door, there would be a door.

He wrote the idea down on his clipboard. It joined the list of other things that he needed to get done, including another meeting with Ms. Horvath. There were so many demands on his time these days that he didn't get to spend much time with Alice.

Sure they were around each other all the time, but they didn't have any private time. And he was worried that things would just get worse if he didn't make sure that they spent some time together.

---

Over the next few weeks, Duchess continued to be a big help with planning. She also continued to eat pretty much any food that entered the apartment. Thankfully over time, her morning sickness seemed to go away, though not before it allowed Hatter to get rid of a few more of Jack's disgusting possessions.

Most of the construction was done, the paperwork had dwindled and his relationship with Alice had survived. Her mother's opinion of him had gotten better when she realized just how hard Hatter was working. It was amazing just how much of her bad opinion could be erased by knowing that Hatter was willing to put in an honest day's work.

"That went well." Hatter smiled as they walked out of Alice's apartment. This time dinner with her mother hadn't included Duchess. And the fact that he was able to talk about his new business and the progress that he had been making helped some.

Alice grinned at him.

"You know, you don't have to take my mom so seriously. It's not like she doesn't like you. And she did give you some suggestions for decorating." That was true. The suggestions hadn't exactly been what he was looking for, but some of them had sparked ideas.

Three more weeks, that's all he needed. And then he would allow Alice to see the warehouse again. He had been trying to keep her away from it as much as possible. She hadn't seen it since the basic structure was finished. He couldn't wait to see her when she stepped inside the club for the first time. Even he was surprised everyday when he went there.

Hatter kissed Alice softly and slowly. The fact that they would soon have more time together helped him surrender some of the stress that had been building.

"Good night, Alice." He whispered and then started to walk down the hall, knowing full well that Alice was still looking after him.

---

**AN:**

First, I want to thank you all for the wonderful suggestions for names for Duchess's baby. If you have anymore, please just put them in your review.

So, I tried something a little different in this chapter: Jack point-of-view. It was kind of weird, but I needed to show him attempting to be a good king to help out with something I have planned for later.

Construction is almost complete! And you will all get your first glimpse of the club in the next chapter.

Reviews of any kind are great, so ask a question, make a comment or just add a name to the contest.


	26. Home is Where the Plants Are

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything having to do with _Alice_. Though, I really wish that I did.

---

**Home is Where the Plants Are**

"So, when are you going to let us see it?" demanded Duchess. Her pregnancy was just beginning to show and her mood swings were getting worse. For the most part Hatter tried to ignore her. It was difficult enough living with a pregnant woman, but having her as a business partner was a pain. On a regular day, Duchess was nice enough, but the fact that she had been banned from going near the warehouse had obviously started to wear on her.

Alice and Duchess sat in front of him. Both women looked extremely annoyed. At least he had a reason for keeping Duchess away from the warehouse. All the chemical fumes and dust probably weren't good for her or the baby. But he had no such excuse for Alice.

Hatter had actually told the workers to make sure that she stayed off the premises. It was going to be a surprise, even if she killed him for keeping it that way. He wanted to see the look on both their faces when they saw the club for the first time.

Most of the work was completed and only a few finishing touches remained. And he wanted Alice and Duchess to help him with those. It would placate both of them.

And that was the reason why tonight he was actually at the apartment instead of sitting in his office at the club. All the crews had gone home for the night, while he supposedly deliberated over the final touches. In reality, he was waiting to startle the women with everything that had been accomplished in the last few weeks.

"I was actually thinking about going over right now." He stood up from the table before either of the women could reply. "It's not quite done, but there might be some things that you can help me with."

"Finally you ask us!" Duchess threw down the notes she had been going over and went to get her coat. Alice just sat there, looking at him.

"So, the surprise is ready?" She asked innocently. Hatter's heart raced at the sight of her somewhat less than innocent glance towards him. Alice was going to be the death of him. And what a joyful death it was going to be.

---

They walked to the warehouse in silence. Alice wondered exactly what Hatter had been doing that he had decided to keep secret from them. Those stacks of receipts that made no sense had to have a purpose. What exactly had he been buying?

It had been a mystery for almost a month and a half as she and Duchess worked together to make sure that Hatter didn't spend too much money on his plans.

Hatter went into the warehouse first, leaving Alice with Duchess outside.

Alice felt a little giddy. All these weeks of working were finally going to pay off. The club was almost completed and she would be able to spend time with Hatter again. Right now it seemed like they worked every waking moment to make this dream of his a reality.

---

Hatter was practically rubbing his hands together in delight. He hoped that Alice would be as thrilled with the place as he was. So much had gone into the club that he was relieved that it was near completion. Seeing a well thought out plan come to life was one of life's greatest pleasures.

He quickly looked around to make sure there wasn't anything that the construction workers had left that would detract from the over all appearance of the place. He did spot a lonely hammer sitting by the DJ booth. _Oh well, that wouldn't be too bad_, he thought. But he moved it into the booth anyway, so that it wouldn't be in the way.

Hatter tried to keep his cool. This was going to be a big night. All the final touches would go into the club in the next few days and he would be free to start earning money the completely legal way.

He opened the door for the women.

---

"Oh my God…" Alice's jaw fell open. It felt like she had just walked into a dream.

There were trees growing out of clear Plexiglas boxes spread throughout the room, while the floor was checkered with black and white tiles that were almost two feet wide on each side. The wall directly opposite her was made entirely out of mirrors, almost like a dance studio and it made the already massive warehouse seem bigger. The other walls were painted a deep burgundy, nothing like the garish red that the Hearts seemed to prefer.

Over all, it was breath taking to be almost alone in such a large room. Even the vents and ducts on the ceiling, as well as the protruding pipes had been painted uniform dull silver that was echoed in light fixtures around the room.

"Do you like it?" Hatter asked, concern written all over his face. Alice walked forward, ignoring his comment and focusing instead on her environment.

_Was that grass?_ She bent down, touching the green blades carefully. No wonder some of the receipts didn't make sense. They were from landscapers. The grass boarder formed a square around the middle of the room, where Alice supposed that the dance floor would be. Cement slabs, wide enough for three people to walk across at once, formed bridges to the island dance floor.

"Hey, look at this!" Duchess called out, and at last Alice started paying attention. The bar was set up along one of the burgundy walls, but the where normal bars had glass, this bar had a mosaic made of tiny pieces of broken glass forming the vague outline of chess pieces. There were no bottles behind the counter yet, and Alice realized that the space behind the bar was actually a lot bigger than she suspected. There would be room for multiple people to work without getting in the way of each other.

"Hatter, this is amazing." Alice turned towards him. He looked smug.

"Of course it's amazing. What else did you think it was going to be? It's not like I haven't run a profitable business before. But of course, the Tea Shoppe didn't take nearly as much effort to get running." His smug look vanished to be replaced by his charming, but cheeky, grin.

_To hell with it_, thought Alice. She threw herself into his arms. Duchess was a big girl; she could deal with a public display of affection or two.

---

It took Hatter awhile to disentangle his enthusiastic and beautiful girlfriend from his arms. Not that he was trying very hard. But there were things that he wanted to show her.

The DJ booth was the first. It was made all out of black stone, worked together to look like the top of a castle wall.

"It's a rook." Hatter corrected when Alice told him it looked like a castle. The entire club had a bit of a chess theme, Hatter's way of making a nod to the glory days of Wonderland. The stories of the Knights had provided most of the inspiration.

"I should have realized that." Alice said, still looking around. Hatter had to admit that the DJ booth was really the best view of the whole place (except for the aerial view provided by the catwalk). The wall of mirrors was directly behind the booth while the dance floor and everything else stretched out before them. "It sort of reminds me of Charlie."

Leave it to Alice to think of the old knight at a time when Hatter was standing right behind her. He was sorely tempted to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him while they both surveyed the outcome of weeks of work.

"That old knight wouldn't know a club it you hit him with it." Hatter's joke caused Alice to burst into laughter. It took almost a minute for her to regain her composure. Hatter looked at her with confusion; the joke hadn't been all that funny. She must have realized that because she started to explain.

"Sorry, I just pictured someone trying to hit Charlie with those stupid hats the Queen had the Clubs wear." Hatter joined in her renewed bout of laughter.

"Is there something you two aren't telling me?" Called Duchess from the other side of the room, where she sat on a bench built against the wall. Neither of them really felt like explaining it to her.

Hatter let Alice leave the booth and the girls explored every part of the club they could get into. The only room they found they couldn't open was his office. Hatter explained that it was locked to protect the Looking Glass, even though he could have just unlocked it to let them inside. He had to keep some surprises up his sleeve.

---

**AN:**

Sorry that certain circumstances kept me from updating yesterday. Don't worry you'll get two chapters today because of that.

I really wanted Hatter's club to be something different than we would normally see in our world. And the fact that there were a lot of plants growing in the city in Wonderland mixed with the grass in Hatter's office made me think that plants growing indoors might be comforting for him. Also, I really wanted to avoid the card theme, since I figured that all the characters would hate to be reminded of the Queen every time they went to work.

Feel free to leave a review! I'm still taking suggestions for naming Duchess's baby if you want to post some of those.


	27. Badgering Broker

**Disclaimer:** If I don't own Syfy, I don't own _Alice_. If I don't own _Alice_, then I don't own Hatter. If I don't own Hatter, then I can't have his hat. The world is unfair sometimes…

---

**Badgering Broker**

The emissary from Jack arrived the next day, thankfully while Hatter was in his office with the door closed.

Workers were in the main room, bolting tables down to the floor and making sure that all the rigging in the catwalk above the dance floor was secure. Hatter wanted everything perfect for when the first of the inspections happened that afternoon.

Hatter noticed a faint ripple in the Looking Glass a second before a body fell out of it. A young man, dressed in a crisp white suit landed on the carpet. (Apparently Alice wasn't the only one who had problems with travel via the Looking Glass.) Hatter quickly reasoned that the man had to have been sent by Jack. No one else ever wore white suits in Wonderland except for those who served the monarch. White suits were just too terribly impractical.

Hatter helped the man off the floor and smiled as he realized just how messy it would have been if the man had arrived in his other office. That white suit wouldn't have survived the grass and dirt.

The man looked surprised to see his surroundings, and even more surprised that there was someone holding onto his elbow to help him to his feet. He backed up a step, causing Hatter's hand to slip off his arm.

"Are you Hatter?" He asked. The cadence of his speech made Hatter realize just how much he missed how people spoke in Wonderland. There was a lilt to a Wonderland accent that was sadly missing from the typical New Yorker's speech.

Hatter smirked. He was after all dressed in clothes that he had brought from Wonderland. Not that this man probably knew the styles were different here. Come to think of it, Hatter hadn't seen one person wearing a white suit since he arrived in this world.

"Why else do you think I'm wearing the hat?" Hatter touched the brim, bringing the young man's attention to it.

The man looked flustered for a moment.

"Of course," he cleared his throat, "I'm Broker." He pulled out a pen and notebook from the inside of his suit coat. "The King sent me to oversee this business enterprise. And to make sure that everything was going according to the schedule that he predetermined."

Hatter thought that this man might possibly be more pompous than Jack was. Unless of course Jack was the one who claimed that he had "predetermined" everything.

"Well, we had better go look around then." Hatter started towards the door of his office. Too bad neither Alice nor Duchess would be there to help him antagonize Broker. Antagonizing people seemed to be Duchess's new favorite sport.

He led the man out into the main part of the club, hoping that the workers wouldn't notice that two men were coming out of the office when only one had gone in the entire morning.

"The decorating scheme leaves something to be desired." Broker said, noting that down in his book. Each detail of the club was met with similar remarks. The bathrooms were too drafty, the exposed ventilation shafts and piping in the ceiling were "not aesthetically pleasing," everything was at fault. Each time the pen dipped and bobbed towards the paper, Hatter felt like ripping the notepad apart.

"Have no accommodations been constructed for the workers?" Broker questioned in all seriousness. Hatter tried not to laugh at him.

"I'll find places for them to live." He said softly enough that the men putting in the tables wouldn't overhear. Surely dealing with Broker couldn't be worse than dealing with inspectors in this world. Could it?

"I believe that this is the conclusion of my inspection. But the King also wanted me to check in on a young woman named…" he consulted his notepad, "Duchess. The King seems to have an interest in her case."

Of course Jack had an interest in Duchess. He had gotten her knocked up. If he didn't have an interest, Hatter might have had to go hit him again. At least the bastard was making some effort. Come to think of it, he probably should have hit Jack with that stick when the man interrupted when Hatter first tried to kiss Alice.

Hatter quickly spoke to one of the men, explaining that he was going to be gone for a little while. He locked his office door. It wouldn't do to have someone poking around the Looking Glass.

"I hope you can keep up." Hatter walked out of the club, not caring if Broker was behind him or not. The twists and turns to the apartment were confusing even for Hatter after almost two months of living there. If Broker got lost, it would be impossible for him to find his way. Hatter decided that it wouldn't exactly be his fault if the Wonderlander went missing.

---

Alice flopped down on the couch with a can of Sprite in her hand. It was wonderful to just sit down and relax; not having to worry about any surprises that Hatter might have in store for her. He had been pleased enough with her reaction to the club.

"You know, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they arrive." Duchess said. They had been talking about what they were going to do with the refugees once they started coming through the Glass.

"I'm just worried that some of them aren't going to be able to fit in." Duchess and Hatter had done really well, but that didn't guarantee that every one would be able to adapt so quickly. It wasn't going to be easy to be in charge of making sure they knew how to function in this world.

Hatter walked in the door, hanging up his hat on the rack that he had purchased specifically for that purpose.

"It turns out we've got a guest. Seems that Jack doesn't think that I can keep things in order on this side of the Glass." Alice was fairly certain that she was the only one who realized just how angry Hatter was. He didn't really show anger generally, but she could see it in the set of his jaw. Something was really bothering him.

"Now Hatter, that is untrue. The King trusts you implicitly with all matters in this world. He said that you and one Alice Hamilton, are the only two people he trusts to see that his work is carried out here." A man stepped into the apartment behind Hatter. Alice's eyes widened. She had only ever seen a white suit in movies, or at a wedding, but never in real life. This man wore his entirely white ensemble without even having the decency to look concerned with the fact that he stuck out in this world like a sore thumb.

No wonder Hatter was upset. At least when he wore clothes that didn't fit in, he was able to pass it off as a fashion statement instead of a fashion faux-pas.

"I'm so glad that I have Jack's vote of confidence." said Duchess, raising her glass of water to the visitor. Alice cringed, realizing that Duchess's name had been left off the list of people that Jack trusted. "So, this is Jack's creature." She stood up to get a closer look at the man.

"Excuse me, but why are you all speaking so informally of the King?" Alice smothered a laugh. None of them were going to answer that question. At least not for some low level lackey who didn't even recognize who Duchess was.

---

"Broker, meet Duchess. She's the one that you were sent to see." Hatter gestured to the blonde.

"Ah, very well then." Broker turned to Duchess, giving her his best false smile. At least that's what Hatter thought it might be, since the man's face looked like it was about to break in half. "I am supposed to inquire as to your health and situation." Broker said politely.

Duchess snorted. It wasn't a sound that Hatter had ever expected the poised woman to make. But, then again, this white clad man was an idiot.

"You can tell Jack that I'm healthy, generally happy, and not interested in his crap." Hatter decided that he was going to buy Duchess a present for that comment, something shiny and preferably quite large. He had been wanting to tell Broker off since he arrived, but had been stopping himself.

"Ah, well…" Broker straightened his tie nervously. "Hatter, the King also asked that I give you this." The man pulled a sheaf of papers from his breast pocket and handed it to Hatter, who passed it along to Alice, while the man looked on in confusion. "If you would so kindly escort me back to the Looking Glass, I will be on my way."

---

When Hatter and Broker were out the door, Duchess and Alice started to giggle.

"You know, you really should stop watching daytime television." Alice finally got out. Duchess smiled at her.

"I don't know. I think it's helping me get the hang of life here." Alice shook her head, still smiling at her friend.

---

**AN: **

Jack finally sends someone through the Glass to check on them. Too bad that Broker is an utter idiot… I think that the character Broker is mostly inspired by reading "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. If you haven't read that book and you enjoy super cynical comedy, you should pick it up.

Now that Jack knows he'll be able to send people through soon, we should be introduced to a few more Wonderlanders.

Any questions or comments? I am always willing to read through reviews.


	28. What's in a Name?

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ is owned by Syfy. Yeah, I know it's sad, but we all have to deal with it.

---

**What's in a Name? … Apparently a Chess Piece**

Alice didn't even look at the papers that Broker had given her until the next morning. It was basic information on the refugees that Jack was sending through. The papers almost read like job applications, listing skills that each person had and what jobs (legal or otherwise) they had held during the Queen's reign. Looking at the documents, Alice realized that Jack must have picked up her world's habit of putting everything down on paper. It was funny to think how different Hatter and Jack were. But she figured that she had picked the better of the two.

"What are you doing, honey?" asked her mom, poking her head into Alice's room.

"Looking over some papers for Hatter." It was the standard response these days. She spent as much time working on things for Hatter as she had looking for her father. Carol frowned at her.

"If David keeps working you so hard, he should at least put you on the payroll." Alice's eyes shot up. Payroll? Well, she did spend more time on his project than her own business. But that was mostly because she wanted him to succeed, because that meant she would be able to keep him.

"Maybe I'll ask him." She mused. "So, were you checking on me for any real reason?" Alice teased her mother.

"I was hoping that we could do something together, just the two of us." That one sentence made the bottom drop out of Alice's stomach. She had been so focused on Hatter and Duchess (mostly Hatter though) that she had forgotten to spend time with her own mom. She and Carol weren't just mother and daughter; they had been best friends for years, since Alice had problems hanging on to other friends. Before Wonderland, Alice used to go out with her mom at least once a week. But since she got back, she figured there had only been two afternoons she had spent with her mom, and most of the time she had been preoccupied.

"Oh, Mom…" Alice began to apologize. Carol held up a hand.

"It's alright, Alice. I just wanted to remind you that there are other things in the world than David." Not that Alice had been acting like there was. "I was thinking… there's a sale going on…"

Alice grabbed the coat that was on her bed. It turned out to be the purple velvet coat that she had worn in Wonderland. She shrugged it on.

"Let's get going."

---

Hatter sighed, allowing himself the comfort of putting his feet up on his desk. After all, this was a small victory. The first inspection had gone well the day before and everything pointed to the fact that it would continue to do so. But there was one significant problem.

The club didn't have a name. He needed to pick a name to put in neon lights above the door outside and to put on the paperwork. Hatter realized that he probably should have picked a name around the same time as he picked the interior décor. Now he would just have to figure something out. It was his club after all. He didn't need to consult with Alice and Duchess about everything (though he usually did).

What was a name that he could choose? He couldn't exactly name it "The Looking Glass" that would invite far too much trouble if any of the Oysters who had been held at the Casino remembered the portal.

Something to go with the chess theme would be nice. But Hatter would rather be damned than name it after anything that could be associated with Jack. No comments about kings, hearts or crowns in the name, Hatter swore to himself.

A slow smile spread across his face, though no one was there to see it. If anyone had, they would have realized just how malicious Hatter could look when he was up to one of his schemes.

"Oh no, Jack isn't going to like that one bit." He said to no one.

---

"Could we stop by the club?" Carol asked, rather unexpectedly. Both women were holding shopping bags full of new clothing and Alice could only think that she really wanted to set the oversized bags down somewhere.

Carol hadn't shown much interest in the club beyond asking both Alice and Hatter a few basic questions, such as what type of music was going to be played. Trying to explain Wonderland music to her mom had been difficult for Alice, especially since she knew so little about it.

"Um… I suppose. Don't you think that we should stop by home first and drop this stuff off?" Alice hefted a bag, hoping that her mother would realize that Alice was carrying a lot more than she was.

"Nonsense, I think that David will be more than happy to see us. Or you at least, anyway." Alice sighed. There was no getting around her mother once she had an idea in her head. But at least it was true that Hatter probably wouldn't mind them stopping by.

---

A banner hung on the door that Alice hadn't noticed before.

**cROOKed Opening Soon!** It stated in letters almost as big as her head.

cROOKed? He wasn't serious, was he? Though, the name did seem like something that Hatter would think was funny.

"What in the world?" Alice realized that her mother must have read the sign as well. The reference to the theme of the club was obvious to someone who had been inside. But other than that, the name looked a little strange in her opinion. Not that she would tell Hatter. It was probably just another in his long line of jokes that he liked to play on people.

They walked inside to find Hatter sitting at one of the tables. The place looked even better now that the tables and chairs were in place; it broke up the checker board effect of the floor and allowed the eyes to look at the strange curved designs of the chairs. These at least Alice was familiar with, since Hatter had made her and Duchess pick them out.

Alice sat down across from Hatter, happily dropping her bags to the floor. Her mother was still standing, looking around in awe at the work that had been done.

"Alice," started Hatter, "as much as I love you stopping by unannounced… why is your mother here?" His question was thankfully quiet enough that Carol didn't seem to have overheard him.

"She decided that she was interested in what I've been doing. You aren't serious about the name, are you?" Alice asked, switching the conversation just in case her mother heard them talking.

"I'm perfectly serious." He said, with a grin that contradicted that fact. "Do you really think that I would do something so childish as to name this glorious place cROOKed as part of a joke?" Alice raised her brows. Of course she thought that it was a joke. In fact, she might be more frightened if it wasn't.

"David, this place is amazing." Carol's voice cut into their conversation.

---

Hatter stood up, excited to have another person who understood exactly how much work had gone into making this place in such a short time.

"Just wait until we open. Everything should be even nicer before that happens." The thing that he couldn't wait for was hooking up his stereobox to the music system. He thought that he had figured out the wiring well enough to hook them together without too much trouble. Fixing the electronics around the Tea Shoppe every one in awhile had prepared him at least a bit for this.

"I wanted to ask you. Would it be alright if I came to the opening? I wasn't sure if it would make this place look too un-cool if I was around." Of course Carol wasn't exactly the clientele that they were looking at, but considering that they would be playing a type of music that didn't have a following in this world yet, he really wasn't expecting too many people at first.

"Mrs. Hamilton, it would be wonderful if you could come. We might need a bit of support. I hear opening nights are always rough." He turned up his charm, hoping to get a smile out of her. His plan worked.

"Call me Carol."

---

**AN: **

Mother/daughter shopping trips are in reality evil plots to destroy the world, or to at least ruin credit ratings.

I had to name the club something funny and a bit off-beat, since that's exactly how Hatter is. cROOKed seemed like a good enough choice, even if other people might think it's lame. Though, most names for clubs tend to be kind of strange to begin with.

The stereobox is a reference to earlier chapters, and it's what I call the device that they use to play music in Wonderland (because my creativity had died that day).

I am willing to read any questions or comments that you have on this fanfic. I'll even answer questions if you want me to.


	29. In Which There is Fluff

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters or stuff from the show belongs to me. I just dabble with them from time to time.

---

**Dedication:** To Izzy, because it really is weird having one of my best friends reading this.

---

**In Which There is Fluff**

Alice's mom left shortly after that, when Hatter assured her that he was willing to carry her shopping bags back to her apartment when he walked Alice home for the night. It was nice to just be with Alice, not having to worry about schedules or deadlines. They sat at the table, just chatting. It was a pleasant escape from how hectic his day had been.

"I really do like this place." Alice said, looking around again. He was gratified by the fact that she couldn't seem to get enough of the view. "But there is something that I really want to do." He saw a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

He closed his eyes, really hoping that she was going to try to surprise him with a kiss. It would have been perfect.

But it wasn't to be. He heard two thumps and then the sound of Alice laughing happily. Hatter's eyes popped open. What was she up to?

---

Grass tickled every inch of her skin that wasn't covered by clothing. Hatter would probably be annoyed that she was lying in his precious grass, but she hadn't been able to resist. At least she had taken off her shoes first.

Living in a city (even one with parks like New York had) Alice didn't get much opportunity to lie down in grass and just relax. She moved her arms, taking pleasure in the feel of the blades running across her skin.

"I hope you're enjoyin' ruining me grass. It's not like I didn't just spend a great deal having that put in." Even as he was scolding her, he sounded like he was laughing inside. That was part of the reason that Alice was drawn to him. Hatter was able to laugh at things that would have made other guys turn up their noses or tell her that she was being childish.

He stood over her, looking a lot taller from the angle that she was at. The perspective was all wrong with her on the floor and him standing over her.

"I'm enjoying it greatly. Now, get down here." Hatter grinned and Alice realized just how that comment could be taken.

---

Hatter lay down on the grass; his feet pointed the opposite direction from Alice's. Their heads were side by side, since they couldn't lie right next to each other in the strip of grass. He placed his hat on his chest, watching as it moved up and down.

"Okay? So what exactly am I supposed to be doing?" He turned his head and looked into Alice's face, which from his angle was upside-down.

"Didn't you ever do this as a kid? My dad used to bring me to a park when I was little and read to me while I sprawled out on the grass." It touched Hatter that she felt like she could talk about her father. It must be hard for her, he realized, to have lost the man for ten years just to lose him again as soon as she found him.

---

"My old man used to take me out on his boat." Hatter started, turning his head away from her. "It was the most fun thing in the world. All that speed… feelin' the wind trying to tug my hat off…" Alice imagined a very young version of Hatter sitting on the prow of a boat, wearing a miniature version of his favorite hat. "He taught me about smuggling on that boat." Hatter sounded wistful. Most men had memories of fishing trips with their fathers, but of course Hatter wasn't like most men, a father and son smuggling trip sounded a lot more like him.

"So, it was a family business?" She asked. This was the most he had ever told her about his past.

"More or less, Mum wasn't too fond of it. But she didn't really object to expensive baubles either." Silence stretched between them for a few moments.

"Will I get expensive baubles too?" asked Alice, half jokingly.

---

Hatter sat up suddenly, causing his hat to tumble off his chest. He turned his body so that he could see Alice more clearly, noticing that she had started sitting up as well.

"Do you want them?" He asked nervously. Was this a hint that he was supposed to get her jewelry? He hadn't really thought about it before but he hadn't bought Alice any presents. Maybe he should ask Duchess's advice… he shuddered slightly, imagining the type of jewelry that Duchess would suggest.

Alice laughed.

"Not really. If you haven't noticed, I'm not big on jewelry." It was true. He hadn't seen her wear any jewelry since she had taken off the Stone of Wonderland. Hatter relaxed a little and retrieved his hat.

"You know, you really shouldn't scare a man like that." He brushed imaginary dust off the hat in his hands.

"Like what?" She asked, and once again her voice sounded far too innocent for the look on her face. He opened his mouth to reply, but instead found himself staring down at a small hand clasped around his tie. "Like this?" His eyes grew wide as dinner plates.

"Well, if you put it like that…" Hatter moved in for a kiss, making certain to move his hat out from between them.

This time when he closed his eyes, Alice's lips met his. She leaned closer to him, pushing his back against the ridge where the floor dropped into the grass. Sure it was hurt, but he wasn't going to mention that to her.

---

"You know, I think we really are messing up the grass." Alice said in his ear, resisting the urge to bite at the lobe. That would not be helpful right now.

They both sat up, adjusting their clothes and blushing slightly. Alice felt like she had in high school whenever her mom caught her kissing someone. But that made no sense, they were alone and they were adults.

When their hands were full of shopping bags, Alice looked at him again. He seemed as flustered as she was.

"This might be a little fast, but I do think I'm in love with you." The words poured out of Alice's mouth.

---

**AN:**

I bet you didn't expect that Alice would be the first one to say that.

Alice struck me as being serious during the show because she had something important to do. But I think she's a bit more relaxed when there isn't life of death matters on the line. I mean, who wouldn't be?

And yes, my version of Hatter was taught his devious ways as a child by a loving, if rather busy father. Making him some tragic orphan didn't seem right at all for his character.

Questions? Comments? I love hearing what people have to think about the story.


	30. What was in the Bag?

**Disclaimer:** Syfy is in charge of Alice. I just tend to borrow the characters for extended periods of time.

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**What was in the Bag?**

Well, that was unexpected. Hatter knew she was falling for him but he hadn't anticipated her ever admitting it. The fact that she had been able to say she loved him before he had was impressive, especially given her latest relationship.

"I should hope so. I might have had to be disappointed otherwise." The fact that his hands were full prevented him from hugging her, but he still leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

---

Alice wasn't worried. It didn't matter that Hatter hadn't said he loved her. It's not that he didn't need to say it. She would want to hear it sometime, but she wasn't going to force the matter. He cared (a lot more than any other guy she had ever dated) and for now that was enough.

"So, ready to get going?" She hefted the bags.

"What exactly is all this?" He was looking down into one of the shopping bags curiously. A faint flush rose up in his cheeks. "Your mother certainly has…" he coughed, "interesting tastes."

Alice grinned noting the store name on the side of the bag.

"Actually that's mine." His face turned red. If any other man had tried to imagine her wearing what was in the bag, she would have been offended. But with Hatter, she thought it was kind of sweet that he was blushing while thinking of it. He might pretend to be a sleazy guy, but in reality he was remarkably considerate.

---

They walked back to Alice's apartment. Throughout the walk, images of Alice wearing what he had seen burned themselves into his brain. How many other things did she have like that? The question tormented him.

He wouldn't put it past her to have purposely let him let him carry that particular bag. And the fact that the bag hung off his arm, looking completely innocent from the outside, was sheer torture. Until that moment he hadn't thought that Alice could be cruel, but this proved it.

---

Weirdly enough, the lingerie had been her mother's idea. Alice wondered if it had been Carol's hint that she was finally okay with the idea of Alice and Hatter sleeping together. Even if (despite Alice's jokes with her mother) they hadn't yet.

That fact made Alice a bit proud of herself. It proved that their relationship wasn't based on physical attraction (though there was definitely enough of that to go around). She couldn't count the number of times that she had considered the possibility of sleeping with Hatter. But there was a catch, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that if she had sex with Hatter, she would never have sex with anyone else.

She didn't want to have sex with anyone else, that wasn't the point. The point was, that for some reason sex with Hatter seemed like it would be different. Sleeping with Hatter would be a step in their relationship, not just a tool to try to tie herself to another person.

Alice liked their relationship the way it was, well, with the minor twist that she had now admitted she was in love with him.

Whatever, this wasn't going to get her anywhere. She decided to try talking to Hatter to distract herself.

---

It took Hatter a moment to realize that she was talking. He might have a romantic bent, but he was still unapologetically male. And he did enjoy thinking about things that would probably get him into massive amounts of trouble with her mother if she ever found out.

"What was that?" he asked, hoping Alice wouldn't be too exasperated with having to repeat herself.

"I said that I wonder how Duchess is doing." Hatter was surprised.

"But you just saw her yesterday."

"That's not what I meant." He took Alice's sigh as a commentary on the perceptiveness of men in general and chose to ignore it.

"Alright then, explain if you feel like I don't understand." Privately he acknowledged the fact that he didn't understand, but of course, Alice would never have to hear about that.

"She still loves Jack. She might not like him, but this is the longest she's ever been away from him with the exception of when he was here. And now, she's got the added factor of knowing she's pregnant. I just wonder how she's handling all that." Hatter politely reminded Alice that Duchess's relationship, however dysfunctional it might be, was not their business.

---

Alice kissed Hatter goodbye at the door and watched him leave. It had quickly become her habit over the last few weeks to watch him go until he was completely out of sight down the stairwell. Once she couldn't see him any trace of him, she unlocked the door and hauled the bags inside.

"So, how was it?" asked Carol, who was sitting with a book in her lap on the couch.

"How was what?" Alice really was confused for a second, until she remembered about the lingerie. Had her mother really expected her to have sex with Hatter at the club? Well, she supposed they could have gone somewhere else (though Hatter's apartment was completely out of the question with Duchess there, not that her mother knew that).

"You know mom, you are a dirty, dirty woman." Alice commented.

"Well, someone around here has to be." Alice went to her room, still shaking her head at her mother's remark.

---

Hatter gave up on the idea of going back to cROOKed. There was no way that he was going to get any work done now that he had the image of Alice only nominally clothed in his head. He went back to his apartment.

Mercifully, Duchess was already asleep. She seemed to be doing more of that lately and for a second he spared a thought to hope that the extra hours of sleep were normal for a pregnant woman.

His hat slid down his arm and he deposited it on the rack. What would it be like to come home to find Alice sleeping at the apartment instead of Duchess? Someday he hoped he would have the answer to that question.

---

**AN:**

Sorry for missing another update. So there will be two chapters put up tonight.

Alice in this story has had sex before in efforts to keep relationships together. I think that Alice would think that sex with Hatter would mean something different than sex with anyone else. She loves him and I do think that makes a lot of difference. But it also makes me think that she's probably thinking about what the future might hold if she does decide to be with him.

Anything to say on this chapter? I love hearing from readers!


	31. The Five

**Disclaimer:** If anything seems familiar, it belongs to Syfy. If it looks strange and non-cannon, that stuff's mine.

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**The Five**

Jack looked over the first of the applicants. Most of them were completely unsuited to living anywhere but Wonderland. They had habits and ticks that would never be accepted in Alice's world. Hatter's powerful right hook was easy to hide as long as he didn't get into fights, but some were like the White Knight, only too likely to give away the existence of Wonderland.

Anyone who had been admitted to the Hospital of Dreams for any length of time would not be allowed to go through the Glass. There was too much danger that they would try to figure out how to distill tea from the Oysters.

It was a nightmare trying to decide who could be trusted enough in the other world.

So, he limited the list to former Resistance fighters, people who had worked hard in order to bring about a change, and those who had lived in the Great Library in order to escape the Queen's wrath.

"Now, you say that your great-grandmother was an Oyster?" asked Jack, considering the petite woman before him.

"Yes, sir. Gran stumbled her way through the Glass during the Red King's reign and never thought to leave. Mum always used to think that it was because of the fact that Gran realized she was going to have a baby before she got around to leaving." Jack bit his tongue to prevent a retort. Thinking about pregnant women right now just made his mind loop back to Duchess.

The red headed woman before him was young, though probably a few years older than Alice. He thought that she would do well adapting to Alice's world.

"I will only grant permission for you to use the Looking Glass on one condition." The woman's eyes brightened as she stared at Jack. "You are to follow the orders of people I entrust you to as you would follow my own. They are my proxies in that world and as such, deserve the same respect that you show me." The woman nodded emphatically.

"Thank you, sir!" She jumped to her feet. "My mum's never going to believe this!"

If Jack felt any guilt over allowing the slightly hyperactive woman through the Glass, it was quashed by Broker's report.

"So, Duchess doesn't want to speak to me." He mused. The white suited man stood still before his monarch's desk.

"It would appear that way, my king." Broker looked embarrassed from having to relate Duchess's exact words to the king.

"I suppose that I can give her a little more time. Though not too much. I do have other things that I need to concentrate on." And with that, Jack dismissed Broker.

The fact that Duchess seemed to hate him now didn't really come as a surprise to Jack. He had acted in a manner unbecoming a prince. Even if he wasn't sorry for his actions, he could at least concede to that much. His actions had the desired effect. Wonderland was free from his mother and the need for Oyster-based teas. That justified everything in his mind. Every word he had spoken against Duchess, every lie he had told Alice, and every time that he had pretended to be a good and loyal son to his mother. It was all justified by the outcome.

---

Hatter didn't sleep that night. There were too many things going on in his head for that. Snippets of imaginary conversations floated around images of things that he wanted to do. How exactly did one propose in this world? He could have gotten up and done a search for popular methods of proposing on his computer, but instead he stayed flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling. The shadow covered surface couldn't tell him anything, but it did relax him a little bit.

He still couldn't fall asleep. If he was wake, then he could make plans.

As the morning light started to slip past the blinds, he forgot all the plans he had been working on and finally surrendered to the weight pulling down on his eyelids.

---

The next day was a nightmare. Hatter had slept far past his alarm and had woken up to Duchess hitting him repeatedly with a pillow.

"Get up. Don't you have to be at the club?" He staggered upright, trying to remember where the closet was. He stumbled towards it, hoping to rescue a shirt and pants before Duchess started talking again.

"So, what happened last night?" Her tone was almost playful. He turned bloodshot eyes on her.

"Nothing worth mentioning." He rasped. The taste in his throat was horrible. A toothbrush, that's what he needed. He started towards the bathroom.

"Nothing doesn't have Alice over here only an hour after the sun is up looking for you. I told her I thought you were at the club." It made sense, that's where he normally was these days. There had been some nights when he hadn't even come back to the apartment.

Alice could wait there for a little while. He was sure she wouldn't mind if he took a shower before meeting her.

---

The door to the club was already unlocked when Alice got there. Hatter was probably inside tinkering with the electronics. She just hoped that whatever jumble of wires he ended up with would pass fire code.

But Hatter wasn't inside. Instead there were five people and a variety of suitcases. Each person was wearing the type of anachronistic outfits that she expected of Wonderlanders.

The refugees had arrived.

---

By the time Hatter showed up, each had given Alice the paperwork that Jack had provided for them. At least that was one thing that she could be happy about. All of them were under thirty-five according to their papers and seemed genuinely interested in the fact that they would be working in the building they found themselves in.

"You mean to tell me that this Hatter fellow thought that Wonderland would be interesting to the Oysters?" asked a short and rather overexcited woman. Her hair was a bright red that had Alice wondering if hair dye existed in Wonderland. She wore a mix of orange and brown clothes that clashed horribly with her hair, but she seemed to be completely ignorant of that fact.

Alice wondered how quickly it would take her to develop a hatred for the word "Oyster" with seven people flinging it around. She was happy she hadn't been born in Wonderland if her time there was anything to go on, and she wasn't going to let them make her feel stupid because of it.

---

"I bet that you all are excited to see this world." said Hatter, walking up beside Alice. He wasn't certain that she had noticed him come in with five other people to pay attention to. "It's the same way with them about our world. People like to see something different, something exciting. It keeps life interesting." All five heads were nodding, some more enthusiastically than others.

"This is Hatter." Alice introduced him to the group. He could tell she was relieved by his presence. Just how long had she been trying to explain things to these people?

"This place is a club. We'll be serving drinks, alcohol for those of you who remember it," the two men in the group nodded, "and letting people dance. People are willing to pay money to come to places like this."

A curly haired woman looked a bit curious.

"What's money?"

Hatter devoutly hoped that he had never been this ignorant. He had learned a lot about Alice's world in just about two months, but dealing with these people was going to be torture until Alice started teaching them to apply their common sense.

And that wasn't the worst of his day. One of the inspectors called to say that he wasn't going to be able to keep the appointment that he had set and that another inspector would be coming the day after tomorrow.

Hatter then blew a fuse while trying to get his stereobox connected to a power outlet. Apparently he needed something that would adjust the flow of the current, whatever that meant. But Alice assured him that she could help him figure something out.

By nightfall, he was sick and tired of curious people trying to look over his shoulder as he worked. He was generally a good tempered man, but it was driving him to his wits' end.

"I'm a bit tired." The curly haired woman commented. And one after another the rest of the people agreed with her.

He called a hotel. There was no way that he was going to let five Wonderlanders sleep in his apartment.

---

**AN:**

And finally Jack sends some people through. He's trying to pick people who will be useful, but that's a matter of opinion. Though, the fact that the red-head might bother everyone is a bit of a bonus on his part.

And of course, Hatter stayed up all night thinking about how to propose to Alice. Now that he knows she is in love with him, he doesn't have any doubts about it. We'll just have to see how things turn out.

Anything you want to say? Any burning questions?


	32. When Things Change

**Disclaimer:** _Alice _is the property of Syfy. The Five belong to me though. I'll gladly take in this bunch of misfits.

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**When Things Change**

Five Wonderlanders in a hotel suite… it sounded like the beginning of a bad joke to Alice. Heck, it looked like the beginning of a bad joke. But of course since Hatter was there, it was actually six of them.

After being around them for a few hours, Alice thought she had their names down. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to the Wonderland version of names. They all sounded like jokes, animals or as if someone had accidently put the last name first on a birth certificate. She wondered what exactly Duchess was thinking about naming her baby. But that was neither here nor now.

She looked back around the room. The small, hyperactive woman was Scamp. That one was obviously a nickname. At least Alice hoped it was. The thought of any parents naming their baby daughter Scamp was a bit much. But who knew?

Scamp seemed to be the _de facto_ leader of the new arrivals. All the others looked to her for confirmation of what they were going to say or do. Thatcher and Winnow, the other two women followed Scamp's lead on everything.

It was going to get annoying quickly, Alice decided. At least Fowler and Hart had shown themselves capable of thinking for themselves.

"What type of jobs are we going to have?" Asked Fowler, playing with the coffeemaker he had found on the desk.

---

Hatter looked up. These people presented more of a problem than he suspected. In Wonderland, anytime there was a refugee, they just went to the Great Library. His only problem had been getting food to bring there. Now, housing really was an issue. Maybe Broker hadn't been as much of an idiot as Hatter thought when he asked about accommodations for workers. No, Hatter decided, Broker was an idiot; he was just an idiot with a good point.

"I was thinking that to start off with, you could do jobs that won't require too much interaction with the Oysters. It's hard work trying to pass as one of them. I've nearly slipped up a few times meself." That was a little bit of a lie, but it wouldn't hurt them to be careful.

Everyone looked suitably concerned about being found out. At least Jack hadn't sent anyone too reckless. Hatter knew from dealing with the Resistance that a few of its members were a bit jumpy and more likely to walk into a room with a gun drawn than try to talk themselves out of a tense situation.

"Cleaning wouldn't be too bad." said Winnow. In the last few hours, she hadn't said a word, but now she was catching onto his ideas before the others. There was a lack of confidence about the woman that made Hatter think she might have been a refugee for quite awhile. Maybe she had been one of the people he had helped by smuggling food to the Library. He hoped so. It made him feel as if he hadn't been quite as much of a bastard in Wonderland as it seemed looking back.

Eventually, the Wonderlanders all went to sleep, leaving Alice and Hatter to talk in the kitchen area of the suite.

"Someone's going to have to stay with them until they're settled more." Hatter said, knowing full well that it would have to be him. Alice had work to do outside of planning for the club. Hatter hated the fact that watching the new arrivals would mean giving up time with Alice. Why couldn't things allow them to be together more often?

"Let Duchess do it. She's been complaining about how useless she is since the doctor told her all the things she's not supposed to be doing." Duchess had taken the doctor's long list of warnings to heart and refused to lift anything heavier than a purse these days. It would make Duchess feel useful, and it would leave him free to spend time with Alice. Hatter nearly jumped at the idea.

---

Alice loved how easy it was to convince him that the pregnant woman should babysit the new arrivals. She could see the circles under his eyes and the fact that his hair drooped more than usual. He hadn't put as much effort into his appearance this morning and his clothes were a bit rumpled.

Hatter needed a break and she couldn't give it to him.

It was a sad realization, but at least she could make him let other people do some of the work now. Once they hired a few people from her world to man the bar and act as waitresses, things would get better. Maybe they could even make Fowler and Hart bouncers once they explained cover charge and the difference between a fake id and a real one.

Yes, soon Hatter would be able to delegate more of his responsibilities. Alice decided that she would take full advantage of that.

---

A Suit rushed into Jack's office.

"Sir, we need to move you."

The king looked up from the plan he was working on for the repair of crumbling and dangerous structures within the city.

"Move me where?" He asked idly, thinking it would probably just be easier to rebuild the city from the ground up.

"They're coming." The Suit sounded nearly panicked as two Aces joined him in the room. Jack's head snapped upwards. He realized that the Suit had a gun in his hand and his face was flushed.

Rebels were on their way to the house? All plans for city repair flew from Jack's head. He followed the Suit, trusting that the Aces would guard his back in case someone else came up behind them.

How could anyone even get near the house? It was remote and well guarded.

Jack grabbed one of the swords off the wall. Even if a sword wasn't effective against bullets, he felt better knowing he had some form of weapon.

They led him outside, careful to check the area before ushering him to the Scarab that was waiting outside.

"The White Knight suggested that we take you to the Kingdom of the Knights for safekeeping." It made sense; no one wandered that forest without good need. The Jabberwockies alone were dangerous enough to dissuade them without even considering the other inhabitants of the forest.

The door to the Scarab closed. Jack felt a jolt as the beetle-like vehicle pulled away from the grown. He set down the sword, feeling more secure now that he was in a moving transport.

"How exactly did they breach the perimeter?" He asked of the guards with him.

"We think there might be a traitor. Someone must have told them exactly where we were." The number of individuals that had that information was limited to his guards. But of course, there was always another option.

"Mother could have told." She was supposedly in confinement, but someone who was truly interested could have found a way to speak to her. She knew where the summer home was and that it was a defensible position against attack. Jack would have to have her moved as well, just in case someone tried to free her. He thought that somewhere nice and dark would be fine, preferably with little chance of human interaction.

Maybe he should have put her to death. It would have made things a lot simpler. But it just went to show that he wasn't a real Heart if he couldn't stomach beginning his reign with his mother's beheading.

---

**AN: **

The Five are going to be making quite a few appearances in later chapters, more than I was anticipating on anyway. They're just too amusing to me to leave them out or completely gloss over them as insignificant. Though introducing five original characters at once is not something I ever want to do again in a fanfiction…

And Jack gets attacked! Seems like not everyone likes their new king.

Hearing from readers helps me get ideas flowing, so help a writer in need and review!


	33. Mothballs and Meetings

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Alice_ or anything having to do with it. Syfy kindly permits fanfic writers to play around in their shiny new world though.

---

**Mothballs and Meetings**

Alice looked at the dress that Duchess was holding up. It was plainly not something that Duchess could wear now that her belly was beginning to swell. Alice looked at the pale pink dress with consternation. Duchess had better not mean it as something Alice should try on. That was never going to happen.

"No." There was no chance that she was going to wear the dress, even if Duchess liked it. The blonde looked back at the dress.

"You're right, I'm not sure it would be the right color for you anyway." Duchess might have looked good in pink (even if it would make her look like a Barbie) but it was not a color that Alice could wear, even if she had the inclination to do so. The very idea of wearing a pink dress was appalling.

"You have to have something to wear to the opening." Duchess complained. Alice knew that as well as Duchess did. But there was no way that she would ever consider wearing that pink designer monstrosity to cROOKed. She had a far better idea of where to get clothes for the opening.

---

"Where are they?" Hatter looked at the individuals that he had privately termed The Five. Over the last week the Wonderlanders had become a little more adjusted, and a little less likely to commit any obvious mistakes in this world (not that they didn't still slip up occasionally).

The most spectacular screw up to date involved Scamp attempting to hail a taxi by walking out into the middle of a busy New York street. Needless to say, it was amazing that the woman had lived.

The Five sat in chairs around cROOKed, waiting for Alice and Duchess to show up, while Hatter paced. The girls were supposed to have been there a half hour before, if the large golden watch on his wrist was correct. Alice had given it to him the night before, saying that no business man could go without knowing the proper time.

Hatter kept pacing. Winnow and Fowler seemed to be making eyes at each other. That was a new development, and one that Hatter didn't particularly want to comment on. Scamp was looking at her nails while Thatcher played with a cup on the table. Hart, as ever, was silent.

None of them were interested in the fact that Alice and Duchess were late arriving to their little meeting. Hatter had just finished the final interview for a bartender. Now they were going to celebrate, or at least just receive some final instructions. cROOKed would be open in one week's time and he was more than ready for it..

Where were they? He wondered again, his mind turning back to the problem of the missing women.

---

It was a little hole in the wall place that Alice had overheard some of her students talk about. The clothes were vintage and reasonably priced for all that it was New York. Alice looked in awe at the colors and styles surrounding her. Every decade was represented on the hangers, and Alice loved it.

Duchess however seemed to have a different idea.

"This place smells." The mothball aroma was a bit overpowering, but Alice figured that the smell would come out of fabric easily enough.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" asked the owner. She seemed to be the only person who could find things with any reliability in the racks.

Alice looked around at the colors and fabrics, trying to imagine what it might be that she was thinking of.

"Something from the sixties." She said finally, remembering the decade that Hatter's clothes reminded her most of. "Or maybe the seventies." The white haired woman nodded her understanding.

"I keep that stuff over this way." Alice and Duchess followed her, sharing a knowing glance. Neither of them had thought that there was any sort of order to the chaos in the building.

"Oh!" Duchess exclaimed when she saw the racks that they had been led to. Alice wondered how many of the clothes looked familiar to the woman. "Maybe I can forgive the smell." The owner of the shop laughed.

"I tend to forget how overpowering it is in here sometimes." She smiled. "Feel free to ask if you have any more questions." The older lady left them to their own devices.

Alice sorted through the dresses, trying to figure out what exactly she should get for the opening.

---

Forty-five minutes later she was carrying an entire bag of clothing out of the store. Duchess had ended up with a similar collection. It was amazing that they had been able to limit themselves at all. Not only did they have dresses to wear at the opening, they had clothes that would allow them to dress nearly every day of the week like ordinary people in Wonderland (now that Duchess couldn't wear any of her gowns anymore).

They walked back to cROOKed.

---

"Where have you two been?" asked Hatter, ignoring the bags in their hands. He didn't exactly want to focus on what might be in the bag that Alice was carrying. He tried to take a firm stance.

"Shopping." answered Duchess unnecessarily. She set her bag on a table and sat down next to Winnow. The two of them had been getting along rather well, even if Duchess still avoided the other two women whenever possible.

Alice just smiled at him. Every argument he might have had about them being late seemed pointless. He knew Alice would explain it later when there weren't so many people watching.

"We open our doors in a week, and we can't have any slip ups. Scamp, Thatcher and Fowler, I need you all to remember that you're from England if anyone asks. Hart, Alice says you sound like you're from Ireland. And Winnow, you apparently have a Scottish accent. If anyone mistakes you as being from a different place, correct them. It seems like it's a bit of an insult around here to get that type of thing wrong." Of course he could have said this while Alice and Duchess were still gone, but he thought that it emphasized his point for them to see Alice agreeing with what he said.

The Five had been following Alice around for a week, even going so far as to enroll in her karate classes. It was a bit strange that they got to spend more time with her than he did. But Hatter wasn't going to study karate anywhere that people might get hurt by his right hand.

He touched the brim of his hat to make sure that it was sitting at the right angle.

"We all need to remember that while we know about the Looking Glass, no one else does. Please keep any curious individuals away from my office, and I'll do my best to keep it locked when I'm not actually inside." The idea of an Oyster accidently stepping through the mirror had been one that had been weighing on him over the past few days. But it wouldn't happen. And even if it did, Charlie and his men would make sure the visitor came straight back through.

"Scamp, you're going to be the DJ." The small woman almost fell out of her chair.

"Really? You mean it?" He sometimes forgot that she was actually older than Alice with how she acted.

"Yes, I mean it." It would keep her from playing too many tricks on the customers. She had proven to live up to her name, and it was a position in the club that would explain to any outsiders why the other four Wonderlanders looked up to her. It helped that she knew enough about music to keep up appearances as well.

---

Alice was proud of him. He had done so much. When he finally dismissed them for the night Duchess and the others went back to the hotel. Alice, however, decided to stay.

"I assume that there was a pressing reason as to the fact that you were so late." Hatter's eyes gleamed with laughter. At least he wasn't too bothered by the fact that she hadn't showed up on time. She wasn't sure if she would have been as understanding if he had been the late one.

"Duchess and I were getting clothes to wear to the opening." It was true, but she didn't tell him that she had bought something that looked like it had come straight from Wonderland.

"I hope I'll like it." He murmured, pressing his face into the side of her neck. _Oh_, she thought, _I'm fairly certain that you will_.

---

**AN:**

If it isn't already painfully obvious, I have an obsession with alliteration.

The idea of Alice and Duchess dress shopping was too fun to pass up. Thrift stores are some of the best places to find clothing. The only problem is making sure that it will fit. Thankfully both Alice and Duchess have figures that mean that they would be able to wear some of the more attractive cast off clothing.

And we see Hatter trying to be a fearless general in front of his troops. I'm sure that he'll be relieved to hear that the opening of cROOKed appears in the next chapter.

I command you… leave a review… I'll give you cookies… Come on, something's got to work…


	34. cROOKed Open for Business

**Disclaimer:** Alice is owned by Syfy. But of course, I claim ownership of cROOKed, just because I can.

---

**cROOKed… Open for Business**

Hatter looked around cROOKed. Everywhere there were workers getting ready for the moment that the doors would open. Waitresses ran back and forth making sure that there were napkins on the tables and pretzels had been set out. Scamp stood in the DJ booth, her shallow breathing echoing through the microphone. Hatter realized that she had forgotten to turn the mic. But that could have happened to anyone. Only a quarter hour to go…

Hart and Fowler stood at the door, ready for the flow of people lured in by the five dollar cover charge and the half price drinks. The deal was meant to bring people; Hatter hoped that the atmosphere would hook them in.

He wondered how out of place the clients would look in their modern day clothing. Every one of the workers who hadn't been born in Wonderland had gotten their outfits checked out by Hatter in advance to make sure their clothes would look authentic, even if no one around here actually knew how Wonderlanders dressed. In fact, Alice and Duchess had brought some of workers around to thrift stores in order to find uniforms that would fit with the theme.

Hatter was dressed in his absolute best. Everything from his glossy black hat down to his new black boots had been picked out especially for the occasion. His shirt was such a deep red that it almost matched the walls and it was decorated with small dark brown embroideries along the cuffs that peeked out from beneath his leather coat. It was the same old coat that he had been wearing when Alice dropped into his life and that made it special to him.

Hatter bumped into one of the tables as he walked around, nearly spilling a glass of water that one of the waitresses had been drinking out of. Thankfully the tables were bolted to the floor, so they couldn't be accidently overturned if anything got out of hand.

He brushed his hands across the dark brown fabric of his pants, trying to smooth out imaginary wrinkles. He wanted absolutely everything to be perfect, but logically he knew that was never going to happen.

Things seemed to be going smoothly, but Alice and Duchess still hadn't arrived.

As if reading they were reading his thoughts, Hart and Fowler opened the doors.

---

Alice turned her head to smile at Duchess. Looking good was one of the steps to feeling good, Alice decided. They looked good. It wasn't vanity. It was just the truth. With Duchess's advice and a little help with her hair, Alice looked like she had stepped out of a movie.

The idea of wearing a go-go dancer dress and white boots had never really crossed Alice's mind until she saw the dark brown dress at the vintage shop. It was perfect for the night and made her feel as if she really did belong at cROOKed despite the fact that she was an Oyster.

Duchess walked forward, her dress flowing about her with her movements. The bell sleeved pink and orange dress was not something that a pregnant woman would normally wear, but with the wide white belt that Duchess had on above the slight swell to her stomach, no one would even notice the fact that Duchess was expecting. Her beloved oversized jewelry was once again in place and she looked like the Duchess that Alice had met months before.

Yes, they looked good, if Hatter's reaction was any indication to go by.

---

Hatter remembered that he was supposed to breathe… eventually.

He had never expected Alice to come wearing a dress that barely covered her hips and a pair of boots that went up to her knees. It was a startling contrast to the clothes that she tended to wear normally and it reminded him of the little blue dress that she had been wearing when they met.

He wanted to touch the silk kerchief around her neck that nearly matched the color of his coat. They couldn't have coordinated their clothing more perfectly if they had tried.

The idea of touching that silk scarf was driving him crazy, but Hatter decided that if he couldn't touch the kerchief, he would settle for her hair. Somehow she had gotten her normally straight hair to curl slightly around the edges of her face. Was she trying to drive him mad?

"Well, now I know why my manager ran off with my girlfriend this afternoon." Both women were lovely, but he had to try to think of something else.

"We couldn't just wear just anything." said Duchess. "Any anyway, you didn't really need us today. You had everything under control." Hatter knew it was the truth, but he still would have liked them to help him.

He wrapped his arm around Alice's waist and gave her a quick kiss. His fingers stole across the silk at her throat and into her hair, careful not to disturb the curls.

Seven minutes to go…

The doors opened again and Hatter resisted the urge to ask Hart and Fowler exactly what they were up to.

Carol stepped in the door looking a bit bewildered. Of course, Hatter had agreed that she should come to the opening. She had even dressed appropriately. Alice had apparently told her about the fact that sixties clothes were the best fit for the place.

---

"Mom!" Alice left Hatter's side, rushing over to her mother to compliment her on the blouse and bellbottoms that the older woman had found. Everyone who was important to Alice in this world was there. And that made her feel secure despite the nervous twists in her stomach. No matter if the people outside liked cROOKed or not, it had the approval of everyone who mattered.

Hatter joined her beside her mom. She kissed him again, not caring who saw. This was a beginning of sorts, and one that she wanted to savor.

---

Hart and Fowler grinned at each other and officially opened the doors of cROOKed for the first time while their boss was locked in the arms of the woman he loved.

---

**AN:**

Finally cROOKed is open. I liked the idea of Alice wearing dark brown and her matching clothing to Hatter's was fun. There will be more of the opening in the next chapter because I just can't leave it there.

And yes, I had to dress Duchess in pink and orange. She would do way too well as a sixties Barbie doll.

Reviews? I love reading what you all have to say about the story.


	35. An Interruption

**Disclaimer:** Syfy owns Alice. Everything else is just figments of my imagination.

---

**An Interruption**

Hatter kind of wanted to hide. There were a lot of people in the club, too many if you asked him. He had known what he was getting into when he started a club. It was obvious that there would be a lot of people around, but he hadn't expected quite this many. And the most frightening part was that they were still well under what the fire department had told him the building could hold.

Thankfully Alice was at his side. If she hadn't been standing right beside him, he might have gone a bit batty. She knew from their earlier experience at a night club that he didn't really like to be around loud hoards of people. But since it was opening night, they stayed out in the main portion of the club.

He looked around. It had only been a few minutes since the doors opened and already most of the people had drinks in hand and were well on their way to becoming inebriated. Hatter was glad that he had given Hart and Fowler the number of a cab company to call for clients who were too drunk to figure out how to do it themselves.

---

Alice was having a good time. The dress she was wearing felt like a costume and made her feel a bit bold, despite the fact that she stood out in the crowd, especially because Hatter was standing beside her. Women had been casting glances his direction since the doors opened. But Alice knew he wasn't even looking at them.

Alice noticed something strange about the guests as she considered the women who were trying to stare her down. Every one of them had a green mark on the back of their hands that looked suspiciously like paisley.

He hadn't… Had he?

Alice looked more closely at the next client who walked by. Sure enough, the mark on the back of his hand resembled the marks that Oysters got when they were burned by the light of the Scarabs.

She noticed that Hatter was grinning at her.

"What? It's an inside joke." It definitely was. Only the Wonderlanders and Alice had any idea what was going on.

Alice looked around to see how everyone else was faring.

Hart and Fowler didn't look nearly as intimidating as they were supposed to as they gleefully stamped the green marks onto the back of the customers' hands while still trying to remember to collect the cover charge and check id.

Carol and Duchess were out on the dance floor, moving to the beat of the newest song that Scamp had put on. The dance floor wasn't very crowded yet, but people seemed to be moving their heads in time to the music and looking as if they were considering heading in that direction. The strange combination of sixties music, techno and trance, seemed to be infectious.

Alice thought she spotted Winnow and Thatcher moving through the crowd, taking empty cups off tables and making sure that there wasn't anything obstructing the dance floor.

The song ended and Scamp's voice echoed through the speakers.

"Ladies and gentle beasts, please welcome our boss, and the man who made this place possible, Hatter!"

---

All of the sudden, a spotlight was on him, blinding him. Hatter vowed that whoever was on the catwalk moving the light was going to get some sort of reprimand. He hated being in crowded rooms, and he hated being blinded even more. Putting the two together made him feel a bit irritable.

He felt Alice squeezing his hand. They walked together to the front of the room where Hatter joined Scamp in the DJ booth. She handed him the microphone.

"Welcome to cROOKed, a place where wonders can happen. As Scamp said, I'm Hatter. If you have any questions throughout the night about the music or anything else, feel free to talk to me. Thank you all for coming, and please, enjoy yourselves." He played with his hat throughout the speech, ending with a flourish that sent it flying through the air and then back down onto his head.

There was a polite smattering of applause and more than a few whistles from interested women.

"Maybe you should take that act of yours on the road. The Magical Hatter… I think kids would love it." Alice said in his ear when he rejoined her. He smiled imagining little kids crowded around him as he did tricks for them. Maybe someday, when the kids were his.

That thought led to one pressing question… What was Alice wearing underneath that dress?

And then, his mind was gone… straight down the rabbit hole.

---

Alice didn't exactly want to admit to the fact that the woman who was tearing up the dance floor was her mother. Since seeing her mom dancing with men less than half her age was a bit disturbing. Alice kept thinking about the fact that people might think that her mother was a cougar rather than the truth that Carol just liked to dance, especially to music that sounded a bit retro. At least Duchess was dancing out there as well. Her duties wouldn't officially begin until the next night when she and Hatter would begin switching off on who was on duty.

People were moving onto the dance floor, abandoning drinks to the table tables. The bartender, Josh, was taking some of the money out of his tip jar while the customers were distracted by the dancing. He had told Alice that keeping an only partially filled jar meant that he tended to get tipped better.

A woman walked up to Alice and Hatter. Blonde hair bounced around her head in curls that could not have been natural. It didn't help that her make-up was put on so thickly that her face looked like a mask rather than skin. Her black dress was pulled tight, revealing more cleavage than Alice thought was strictly necessary, even for clubbing.

"Hi, I'm Sherri."

---

The woman nearly thrust her breasts into Hatter's face. He blinked rapidly, trying to figure out exactly how to respond to this. It had happened often enough at the Tea Shoppe with women trying to convince him to let them pay their bills with services rather than goods. Back then he had just told them no and walked away, but he wasn't sure if that was the right way to handle things in this world.

But judging by the way that Alice was glaring at the woman, there was obviously something wrong with Sherri's conduct, which Hatter took to mean as an invitation for him to brush the woman off. But Alice got there first.

"Hello, Sherri. I'm Alice, Hatter's girlfriend." Alice's evil smile was more than enough to scare the other woman away. Hatter watched the blonde beat a hasty retreat. He turned back to Alice.

"Have I ever told you just how much I love you?" He asked, in awe of her ability to scare people without even having to openly threaten them. Alice was an impressive woman, and he noticed that more and more each day.

---

Alice's mood changed from pissed off to elated in an instant.

"Nope, you haven't." She felt the tiniest twinge of guilt at the fact that she was fishing for those three little words. But then again, it had been weeks since she had told him the same.

"I love you." He said, quite clearly. He was smiling almost as broadly as she was.

---

There was a weight in his pocket, a small box that he had been considering off and on all day. It felt slightly velvety beneath his fingers as he plunged his hand into his coat pocket.

He could ask her, right here, right now. It was perfect. The club was complete and seemed to be popular with the crowd. Her mother was there to approve (or not) as she chose. Even Duchess would be able to witness him making an utter fool of himself in order to get Alice to say "yes."

Hatter wanted nothing more than to see that smile on her face get even wider.

He started to pull the box out from his pocket. But before he had opened his hand, Winnow ran up.

"Someone's vomiting all over the men's bathroom." Hatter slipped the box back into his pocket, hoping that Alice hadn't noticed it.

He kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll be right back."

---

**AN:**

Hatter's going to have to find a better way to propose. Seems that the club is too hectic for him to find the perfect moment to ask her his question. But don't worry, it will happen! I just can't see him actually doing a normal proposal, even if he has been studying up on them and trying to figure out what he should do. Normal is not Hatter's style and proposing at the opening would have been way too plain for him. So, it's good that they got interrupted. At least in my opinion…

Also, this week I might be making some first and middle name combinations out of the names that readers sent in for Duchess's baby. I'll try to figure out how to put them in a poll so that you can all vote to choose what the baby is named.

What are your thoughts on the chapter? I love to hear what you think!


	36. OneEighty

**Disclaimer:** All your _Alice_ are not belong to me. They are belong to Syfy. (poor grammar intended)

---

**One-Eighty**

The smell of human vomit mixed with alcohol was more than enough to ruin Hatter's good mood. It was more than enough to ruin anyone's good mood. Hatter thanked everything that he held dear for the fact that he didn't have to clean up the mess. He just had to communicate exactly whose responsibility it was. But he did, however, have to make certain that the vomiting man found his way home alright. It turned out that the man was at cROOKed with a group of friends who were more than happy to drop the drunk off at his apartment on their way to the next club of the night.

With that minor disaster averted, Hatter went in search of Alice. She wasn't on the dance floor or near the bar. He didn't think that she would go up to the catwalk or into the backroom. Thatcher assured him that she wasn't in the bathroom. So, that only left one place for her to be.

Hatter made his way to his office, fending off a few more advances from willing women along the way. Maybe he should cool it with the hat tricks. Women in this world seemed a lot more impressed with them than girls back in Wonderland.

He opened the door to his office quickly, slipping inside before too many customers could get a glimpse of the interior. As far as he knew, Alice hadn't even been in the room yet.

But there she sat, in his large white chair, smiling at him.

"I must say, I really like the flowers." There was a collection of wildflowers growing against one wall of the room, opposite the Looking Glass. Alice had helped him bring most of the furniture over from Wonderland. But there were a few new pieces as well, such as the chair that he had purchased for her. It looked almost like the one that she sat in except the fabric hadn't been torn and it was a pale grey rather than white.

He tried to raise an eyebrow, but only succeeded in stretching the creases out of his forehead and sending the brim of his hat skyward.

"I did get you your own chair you know." He commented, walking over to the new chair and gesturing to it. "I would appreciate if you surrendered mine to its rightful owner." It was a game, and they both knew it.

---

"I don't know, it's pretty comfortable." Alice wiggled her way further into the chair. It was a bit lumpy in places, and she guessed that Hatter had sat in it often. But the lumps didn't bother her. This chair was tangible evidence of his previous life, and she didn't want to forget it.

Alice didn't want to make the mistake of starting to believe the lies that she told others about where he was from or what he used to do. As nice as the lies were, a person in those situations wouldn't have become the man that she loved.

She watched as he put his hands on his hips, trying to look stern and annoyed. He failed at both.

"You could fight me for it, but I'm wearing a dress…" This drew an outright laugh out of Hatter.

---

"Wearing a dress never stopped you before." He crossed over to her chair and crouched down in front of her, bracing his hands on either side of her head to keep himself from toppling over. "But if you want to fight, I promise to play dirty." He didn't know exactly what he had said, but Alice broke out laughing.

Her eyes seemed to grow lighter as she laughed, inviting him to join in her mirth. But he refused. Someone had to pretend to be the sensible adult around here…

---

By the time Duchess knocked on the door of the office, Hatter's coat was on the floor, his shirt was mostly unbuttoned (revealing the body armor that he wore beneath it) and Alice's silk scarf was no where to be found. They were both out of breath and blushed a tiny bit as the blonde walked in.

"I thought I would find you two in here. You can't just disappear on opening night. There are some people here who want to ask questions about the club."

It turned out the people wanted to do more than ask questions. They wanted to write an entire article about the new "underground" music scene that cROOKed represented. It took a lot of careful maneuvering on Hatter's part (guided by Alice) to convince the writers that the type of music was relatively new, and was only produced by little known foreign bands. That was true enough; one didn't get much more foreign than being from another world.

Explaining the sixties influence fell to Alice, who had some knowledge of music from that decade thanks to the fact that her father had left behind a rather extensive collection. But other than that, Alice and Hatter worked together to make a set of lies that would do any author proud.

"Thank you for the interview, Mr. Hatter." said one of the writers as they were packing up to leave.

"Please, just call me Hatter. I much prefer it that way." He replied, sticking out his hand to the men. They seemed genuinely interested in the club and swore that they would come back sometime when they weren't on business and have a drink.

---

The night finally ended at two in the morning when the last customer stumbled her way toward the curb to the cab that Fowler had hailed. It had been a long night, and all of the staff was tired. Now that they had all survived a full night of work, Hatter thought that he could start splitting them down into shifts. Things had gone remarkably smoothly, even if there had been a few too many waitresses running around.

Carol had surprised Hatter and Alice by staying the entire night.

---

"You know, this is the most fun I've had since your father used to take me out." She said to Alice, as they walked into their apartment. Hatter had stayed behind at the club to make sure that clean up went as planned.

Alice felt a stab of guilt at her heart. She still hadn't told her mother the truth.

"Mom, you know how I stopped looking for Daddy?" There was no good way to lead into this conversation. And Alice felt the weight of what she was about to do settle on her shoulders. Hatter had said that he was fine with Carol knowing the truth about him, but it was still a secret that she had been keeping for months. It felt strange to try to sort through the lies and work her way back down to the truth.

"It's because I found him." Those words hung between the mother and daughter as they stared at each other across the living room.

---

**AN: **

A little bit more of the opening. And of course a little fluff.

The newspaper reporters are there because a reader thought they should be. If you have any ideas you want to share, go ahead and do so. It's always fun to see what people think.

Alice finally gets to tell her mother what happened. It isn't one of those things that she can keep secret forever.

Any reviews are appreciated, though today is a double update, in case you just want to skip onto the next chapter and leave a review there.


	37. Coming Clean

**Disclaimer:** _Alice_ belongs to Syfy. I just write here…

---

**Coming Clean**

They were some of the hardest words that Alice had ever had to say. It was time to tell the truth, no matter how much it would hurt her mother to hear it.

Alice had grown up thinking that men would run away, since that's what her father had done. But her mother had an entirely different view of the situation. She had always thought that he would come back. That's why she had allowed Alice's attempts to find her father. That's why Carol was still able to pretend like nothing was wrong when they talked about him.

"Do you remember the night that I ended up at the hospital after chasing down Jack?" Neither of them had discussed that night after their first few fights on the matter. Alice had been too sick of lying to continue and her mother had known her daughter wasn't telling the truth.

Alice sat down on the couch, hoping that her mother would take the hint and sit down as well. But Carol stayed standing, staring down at her daughter.

"But what does this have to do with your father?" Carol's voice wasn't exactly firm. It wavered on the word "father" as if she were about to cry.

Alice knew that she had to tell the story in order, so that her mother could understand. If anything was left out or misplaced none of it would make any sense.

"I followed Jack to give him back the ring that he had slipped into my pocket. I didn't go straight to the warehouse like I told you. I had never even been there before. A man tried to get the ring from me, claiming that Jack had stolen it." This was all fairly understandable, even plausible for their world. Jack could have fallen in with a bad crowd and gotten himself into trouble.

"I followed him to the warehouse and fell through a mirror." Alice glanced up at the mirror on the wall of the living room that looked suspiciously like the Looking Glass. "I landed in a different world, knowing only that I had to save Jack." Her mother finally sat down.

"Alice, you were only gone for an hour or so. Then Hatter brought you to the hospital." Carol's voice was stronger now, as she tried to sooth her daughter. Alice wondered if her mother thought she was having a mental breakdown or something.

"Mom, you just need to listen to me." The command silenced Carol, but did nothing to ease the growing tension in the room. "I met Hatter who agreed to help me find Jack. But it turned out that Jack was the prince of the world I was in. The place was called Wonderland, like in the children's book. Jack told me that Daddy was there, even gave me his watch." As much as Alice wanted to tell her mother everything that had happened, the abbreviated version was probably a bit better. Once she had grasped the truth, other details could be filled in.

Alice would have done anything for her mother not have that look of betrayal on her face. It stung Alice not knowing who Carol felt betrayed by, her husband or her daughter.

She smoothed out the hem of her dress. It was nearer to three in the morning than two now and Alice felt the hours wearing on her. But the story had to be finished.

"I met him. He didn't even remember who I was." It had been so painful, standing there outside the Hospital of Dreams while her father denied having ever seen her before. She had felt like a child again, begging him to recognize her. "Jack's mother had taken Dad there to work on projects for her, projects that were hurting people. She had her people erase all memory of us so that he wouldn't want to come back home, or even remember he had a home." Alice bit her lip while her mother looked as if she was ready to call the hospital.

"He didn't even remember Dinah, Mom." Up until he had disappeared, Dinah's death had been the most traumatic event in Alice's young life. It stuck out as one of those things that could be remembered in every detail instead of being obscured the vague fog that sometimes clouds childhood memories.

Alice swallowed a sob that was threatening to erupt from her chest and blinked back the tears. She had to finish the story, no matter what.

"The Queen, Jack's mom, wanted everything her way. She would even kill to get it. Dad's project was to extract emotions from humans to be consumed by others." It was the nicest way that Alice could explain the tea industry that the Queen had established. "She was willing to kill all of us if that would keep her plans moving forward. Even Jack wasn't safe." It had been frightening not knowing what was going to happen to any of them.

"Finally Hatter helped me free the people that Dad was experimenting on. We got so many of them out, so many lives that we helped save. But they killed him… they killed Daddy." Alice's voice finally broke. She couldn't tell the story of her adventures in Wonderland without feeling as if she had been brought back to those moments in time. Her heart felt again like it was being ripped out of her chest while watching her father fall.

Arms wrapped around her. Her mother might not believe her yet, but she wasn't calling her crazy either.

"Hush, Alice…" murmured her mother, rubbing her back. No matter how comforting Alice remembered her father's arms after Dinah had died, it was her mother who had held her during her tears after her father's disappearance. It was these warm, tender arms that Alice equated with the very concept of comfort. It had been so long since she had let her mother hold her like this, so long since Alice had been willing to admit to any type of weakness.

Her mother made her go to bed, not letting Alice explain any further, or asking any of the questions that Alice knew she would have. She just made sure that her daughter fell asleep before either of them said anything more.

---

**AN:**

Yes, this chapter is a little out of line with the rest of the story, it's actually serious. Alice had to explain to her mother what had happened. There was no way that Alice could keep the fact that her father was dead from Carol any longer. It would have destroyed her slowly. She had spent so much time trying to find him that they had both almost convinced themselves that someday they would find him.

So, sorry about the fact that this chapter is kind of a summary of the show, but Carol needed to hear it.

I love reading reviews, so please, just hit the button and say what you liked or disliked about the chapter or the story as a whole.


	38. All Mimsy were the Borogoves

**Disclaimer:** Syfy owns _Alice_. Lewis Carol owns all the ideas that they stole… (though his copyright might have worn out by now)

---

**All Mimsy were the Borogoves**

Hatter slept for thirteen blissful hours. It was a waste of time, and he knew it. But that hadn't been enough to stop him from sleeping late.

He woke up, stretching languidly, and trying to ignore the light that was coming through the window. After being on his feet for most of the night, he just wanted to stay in bed. And he was sure that all of his employees felt the same way.

The club would be opening in just a few hours, but first shift was Duchess's duty. He would relieve her around ten. The early shift shouldn't have too many people, but then again, it was the weekend. One couldn't be entirely sure how things were going to play out. He still wasn't going to worry himself about it.

For the next few hours, he was free. He could do whatever he wanted.

And what he wanted to do was hunt down Alice. Stolen moments together did not compare to going on a real date. He figured this time he would let her decide where they were going.

---

Alice sat at the table across from her mother. Carol hadn't brought up the conversation of the night before. And if Carol didn't talk about it there was no way that Alice would. It had been hard enough to tell her mother the truth. Justifying the fact that she had lied would be even more difficult.

The doorbell rang.

Alice looked up, wondering if her mother had ordered anything. When the bell rang again without her mother acknowledging it, Alice went over.

"Come on, Alice, open the door." She looked through the peephole to see an extra large version of Hatter's right eye pressed up against the glass from the other side.

A smile stole across her face despite the fact that her mother was still around. She opened the door.

Hatter popped into the room, sweeping her up in his arms and giving her a hug. They were both becoming more comfortable with displaying affection around other people. It was strange how being with Hatter made Alice less self-conscious.

Carol cleared her throat and Alice regretfully broke off her embrace with Hatter.

---

Was there a reason that Carol looked so scary? Even when she had disliked Hatter, he had never received such an intimidating glare from the woman.

"Um… Alice, is it alright that I'm here?" he asked softly, keeping his eyes on her mother. Why exactly did Carol look like she was ready to eviscerate him?

"I told her the truth." Well, that was it then. He was done for. Carol would tell him to stay away from her daughter and probably blame him for the death of her husband as well. It was going to be an interesting day.

He braced himself for the attack that was sure to come. Lying wasn't a generally acceptable thing in either world and he was ready to take his punishment.

---

Alice didn't want to look at her mother. The woman's anger was rolling off her in waves, causing Alice to want to run as far and as fast as she could to get away. But this was her mother, a woman who loved her unconditionally. At least that's what Alice hoped.

"Well, I enjoyed myself last night." said Carol finally. "The club really came together. I must say that the music was my favorite part though." The forced civility in the woman's tone made Alice shudder. Her mother was never like this.

"But hearing that my daughter has been lying to me for the last few months didn't really strike me as the high point of the evening."

---

_Well, it probably shouldn't_, thought Hatter. He was being cynical, and he knew it, but that didn't change anything. Yes, Alice had lied to her mother. But he wasn't exactly certain that Alice would have been able to talk about her father's death before now.

"So, you know that she saved my entire world, right? The Queen was ready to sacrifice all of us to make sure that she kept her twisted game going. Because of Alice, my people have a chance. And because of her father, both of us are still alive." Ok, not his most political speech, but Hatter was angrier than he ever remembered being.

"Maybe without you my husband would still be alive." Well, so much for Carol liking him.

---

Jack hated the forest. It was one part of Wonderland that he wouldn't be sorry to see gone. It was dirty, dank and was infested by animals that didn't seem to have an actual purpose. But when he became King of Wonderland, he had sworn to protect every part of his kingdom, even this Jabberwock infested nightmare.

He scratched at the back of his neck, feeling sweat trickling down. The last time he had been this uncomfortable was when his mother had sentenced him to be held in the Eye Room.

The Kingdom of the Knights might have been grand once, but all it was to Jack was a ruin. Even the camp that the White Knight had built was rudimentary at best. There were no walls to protect him, and no one but the old knight knew how to interpret the alarm systems.

But Jack couldn't risk calling the knight away from his post. If he did, his pursuers would figure out that he had fled into the forest.

The idea of going back to Alice's world crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. It would be too easy for him to get stuck there, or to be captured by the rebels when he came back through.

He glanced down at the ring that he was wearing on his smallest finger. At least he kept the Stone of Wonderland with him. After everything that had happened with Alice, he knew that much.

Jack heard a rustling in the woods behind him. Surely it was just his guards returning from securing the area. But still, he stretched his hand out towards the sword that was by him.

A sound pierced the woods, a cry of pain; an inhuman cry.

It was the cry of a dying Borogove.

Jack jumped to his feet, sword in hand. Few humans were smart enough or fast enough to catch the wily birds, but a Jabberwock was.

---

**AN:**

"All mimsy were the borogoves" is part of a line of the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

Yes, Carol is being unreasonable. She needs to be. She's decided to believe Alice, but that means that she has to find someone to blame for her husband's death, and she isn't going to blame her daughter for it. Hatter, as the only other person that she knows was there, gets that distinction.

Sticking Jack in the forest seemed like fun. He's always too perfect in the show, the idea of him having to live out in the forest appealed to me.

Borogoves are defined in chapter six of _Through the Looking Glass_ as a type of bird, even if the show makes them sound more like a type of wild boar. (Yay for having a poetry anthology that includes "Jabberwocky" and the relevant passages from _Through the Looking Glass_ to explain how Alice knew the poem and how it was explained to her.) So, I'm thinking of Borogoves as extremely big birds, judging from the rib that Alice was munching on in the show.

Anything to say on this newest chapter? I look forward to reading your comments.


	39. Vorpal Sword

**Disclaimer:** Syfy owns _Alice_. Oh yeah, that's original. "Jabberwocky" is owned by Lewis Carroll.

---

**Vorpal Sword**

Jack wished that he were anywhere else in his entire kingdom. Even being held captive by the rebels had to be better than sitting in the forest all alone waiting for a Jabberwock to attack.

He could hear it… moving through the woods… coming closer.

The smell of carrion was overwhelming. Maybe it wouldn't be hungry after eating the Borogove. But Jack knew better than that. Jabberwockies would attack no matter if they were hungry or not. It was in their nature to be fiercely territorial and incredibly stupid.

The hilt of the sword bit into Jack's palm as his hand tightened convulsively. He thought he might be able to kill a Jabberwock if he had to, but the chance wasn't entirely in his favor.

Crack!

The sound of a splitting log. It seemed farther away than it had earlier. Letting out a low breath, he lowered the sword.

All of the sudden, a large, long-fanged head lowered into his line of sight. Jack thrust his sword, his body remembering years of fencing practice, even as his mind flew into a panic.

The creature screamed as the blade sliced into its eye. Once… twice… Jack struck, trying to keep his hold even as his palms sweated and the animal's blood ran over his hands.

It tried to lunge at him, cutting across his forearm with its wickedly long fangs. Jack raised the blade again, this time aiming towards its neck. If he could just get the head off the body, he would be safe.

Minutes passed as he hacked and hewed at the creature, not noticing when it finally stopped moving.

The severed head lay at his feet, nearly as big as he was. He sighed and collapsed against it, too weary to move. All the adrenaline was gone from his system. He was the King of Wonderland, a Jabberwock-slayer and he was just glad to be alive.

---

That's how the Suits found him, leaning against the severed head of one of the most feared animals in Wonderland. No one they had ever heard of, except in stories had been able to part a Jabberwock from its head. Those of them who had questioned his right to rule found themselves hoping that this king, who could do the things of legend, would be strong enough to lead them into the future.

---

Hatter wasn't welcome at Alice's apartment anymore. He knew that as soon as he had left. Carol didn't have to say it. But he wasn't about to go back while she still blamed him for Carpenter's death.

It was going to be tense for Alice, he realized. He wasn't sure how much her mother believed about Wonderland, but he did know that the woman at least believed that her daughter had seen her father killed right before her eyes. How much of Alice's story did Carol chalk up to being part of the trauma of seeing her father murdered?

He stood alone in the hallway, knowing that Alice wasn't going to be leaving her mother alone any time soon. He knew he would do the same for his mother if the situation called for it. But that didn't stop him from wishing that Alice was out here with him instead of inside trying to calm down her mom.

Hatter decided that he needed to find something to do. He didn't want to show up to cROOKed early, because then Duchess would want to know what was wrong with him.

He walked down the street, his hat in hand.

---

Alice sat with her mother for most of the day. They didn't talk, they didn't even move if they didn't have to. Alice was thankful that she had cancelled her karate class for the night. At the time she had canceled, she had thought that she would be tired after the opening. Now she was tired from dealing with the emotional strain of the day. Not having class left her with time to try to get her mother to see some sense.

Around dinner time, Alice and her mother went through the almost mechanical motions of making something to eat while still staying silent. Frozen pizza didn't take too much concentration or cooperation.

It was infuriating. Carol had no right to blame Hatter, but Alice knew that at this point she couldn't convince her mother otherwise. She still had to try though, for the sake of her relationship with Hatter.

"Mom, I can prove it. I can prove all of it. I can show you where he died." The Casino was in ruins, but it would still be someplace physical that Alice could take her mother so they could both mourn.

Alice thought her father would have liked Hatter. They were entirely different. Her father had been all logic and comfort while Hatter acted on impulse and passion, but they would have respected each other. Alice decided that she had to prove that to her mother.

"No, Alice." Her mother's voice was hard. The smell of burning pizza reached Alice's nose, but neither of them did anything to stop it. This was one fight that Alice had to win. Her mother was so used to having control that she wasn't able to see when she had made a mistake.

"We're going, even if I have to drag you through the Looking Glass. I won't just let you drive Hatter away. He is the one man I have ever met who was willing to put up with my shit. But I don't think he deserves to put up with yours too."

While her mother dealt with the burned pizza, Alice slipped into some of the clothes that she had picked up at the thrift store. She didn't want to stick out in Wonderland any more than she had to.

As she pulled on Hatter's velvet coat, she wished that she could bring him along. But in her current mood, Carol would refuse to go to Wonderland if Hatter came with. Alice wasn't even certain that her mother believed her about Wonderland. That wasn't going to be a problem soon.

---

**AN:**

The story of the poem "Jabberwocky" is the inspiration for Jack's portion of the chapter. I need to read the rest of Lewis Carroll's stuff. The phrase "vorpal sword" comes from that poem, and seems to have found its way into D&D according to some of my friends.

Carol is not taking this very well, but Alice has a plan. I can't see it working out too well though.

Lots of updating today. My internet connection keeps bugging out when I want to post up chapters.

Leave a review, they're fun!


	40. Carol in Wonderland

**Disclaimer:** I suppose that I should admit that I don't own Alice. But if you hadn't figured that out already…

---

**Carol in Wonderland**

Hatter lay on his couch, trying to figure out what to do with his evening. He usually spent time on projects for cROOKed or with Alice. But now that cROOKed was complete and Alice was busy with her mother, he didn't have much to do. Alice was enough to tie him to this world, but she couldn't make him part of it so quickly. He didn't feel comfortable just yet wandering around aimlessly.

He put a hand over his eyes and willed himself back to sleep. Maybe in a few hours things would look better.

---

Alice almost literally dragged her mother down the side streets to cROOKed. Carol was not at all a willing participant in their adventure, but she hadn't said no since Alice had scolded her. Alice wondered if telling her mother off had really been the best course of action, but it was the only way she had seen to get the woman to come along.

The sun had already set and in the dark, the alleys reminded Alice of the first time she had gone through the Glass. Maybe her mother had the same sense of foreboding that Alice had been subject to, but at least Carol wasn't chasing down her kidnapped boyfriend. She was just following her daughter to go look at the place where the most important man in her life had been killed. Yeah, maybe Carol had a reason to not like this.

Through the Looking Glass… it was only by seeing the world on the other side that her mother would begin to heal. At least that's what Alice hoped for.

---

Thankfully Duchess didn't ask any questions when Alice arrived at the club. Carol was still not talking and there were too many things that Alice wasn't willing to reply to if asked.

"We're going to be in the office for awhile." The club would be opening again in a few minutes and Alice figured that they would be back before it closed. The fact that time shifted between the two worlds was one of the few things that Alice never got used to.

Alice nodded at Scamp and Thatcher who were gossiping by the bar. Winnow and Fowler were, according to Duchess's quick explanation, making out in the back room pretending no one knew they were a couple. Alice tried to process all of this, but it was hard to think of anyone else's lives when she had problems of her own.

She wanted things to work out with Hatter, and she had a feeling that if her mother continued to hate him, he would end up putting some distance between them.

Alice pulled her mother into the office. The woman didn't seem to see the decoration around her, she just focused on the Looking Glass as if she knew what was coming.

Alice shoved Carol into the mirror.

Taking a deep breath, Alice followed.

---

The landing was just as bad as Alice remembered from every other time she had gone through the Glass. This time, she landed part way on top of her mother.

"Now do you believe that the Glass leads to another world?" Alice asked, standing up and straightening out her clothes.

"Alice! You have returned to us!" Alice found herself wrapped in a familiar, if somewhat uncomfortable embrace. Chainmail pressed up against the side of her face, making her think she was going to end up with an imprint on her skin.

"It's good to see you too, Charlie." She commented, trying to shift herself out of his hold. "Charlie, this is my mom, Carol." His arms dropped from around her and Alice found herself watching as Charlie bowed to her mother.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady." He looked a little bit too eager to be meeting her mother. Alice noticed that her mom didn't look as rumpled as Alice felt by the fall. But as much as Alice loved the old knight, he was way too old to be ogling her mom.

Carol, however, didn't seem to be noticing anything. She wasn't speaking. She hadn't even gotten up off the floor.

"Um… Charlie, could we possibly get a ride to the Casino?" The knight had access to a Scarab, that much Alice knew from the last time that she had been here.

Charlie shook his head, causing his mail to rustle and his breastplate to creak.

"I'm sorry, Alice. The King needed the Scarab to fly formations over the city and country. It seems the rebels are a more serious threat than we expected." Alice paused. Rebels? It made sense that not everyone would be happy with Jack as king. But the fact that he was worried about them, and had Charlie worried about them, was significant to Alice. As far as she had been able to tell while they were together, Jack didn't worry, Jack planned.

"Horses then?" Alice asked hopefully. She wasn't just gong to wait around for a Scarab to be available. She wanted her mother to come to terms with what had happened as quickly as possible. Yes, it was selfish of her, but she wanted there to be some closure in her life. Heck, she needed it.

"I suppose…" Charlie sounded rather reluctant. Alice thought that he might have orders to keep the horses in case anything happened. But, it seemed that his loyalty to Alice won out over his loyalty to the king. "They're stabled out back."

---

Alice and her mother rode through the city. Charlie had sent a Suit with them because Alice didn't know her way around Wonderland as well as she would like. In fact, she had mostly had someone leading her or dragging her the entire time she had been here before.

Alice realized quickly two things. One was that living in New York did not prepare someone to be in the saddle for hours. The second was that traveling by Flamingo, as much as she hated it, was a lot faster than riding a horse.

She couldn't help but think that she wished Hatter was there, so that she could ride behind him.

---

Hatter eventually decided just to go to the club. He hadn't been able to fall asleep and he kept worrying that something was wrong. In fact, he knew something was wrong.

---

**AN:**

And Carol and Alice go to Wonderland. The idea of Carol in Wonderland is strange, I'm not sure how she is going to deal with it, she doesn't seem like she's doing too good right now. I feel kind of sorry for Hatter, getting blamed for everything and then getting left in Alice's world while they go back to his.

We're now in the final stretch, I hope… (Now I really need to go through all those names people submitted. I'm sorry it's taking me so long.)

Please leave a review, even if just to tell me what you thought.


	41. Softening the Blow

**Disclaimer:** Syfy owns everything that I want in this world. _Alice_ is included in that list.

---

**Softening the Blow**

Alice was relieved. After a few hours in the saddle, her mother seemed to perk up. Carol started asking questions about the world around them, and Alice told her a more detailed version of what had happened during her time in Wonderland.

"This Queen isn't still around, is she?" asked Carol once Alice had finished her story.

Come to think of it, Jack never had actually told Alice what happened to his mother. Judging by what she had seen of Wonderland's legal system, she didn't want to venture a guess.

"I doubt it. Jack might be an idiot, but he isn't that stupid." She hoped that the former Queen was locked away in some small closet somewhere. Or better yet, in one of those damned boxes that Alice had fallen out of when being transported by the Scarab.

"I suppose I was a bit unfair to Hatter." It was nice to hear her mother admit that. In Alice's experience, her mother didn't admit when she was wrong, but blaming Hatter for Robert's death had been extreme. Alice knew her mother didn't usually jump to conclusions, which was probably the only reason that Alice could find it in herself to forgive Carol so quickly.

"You might want to tell Hatter that when we get back. He'll be happy to know that his future mother-in-law doesn't hate his guts." The words were out before Alice could stop them. She really needed to learn how to prevent herself from saying things when she didn't mean for people to hear them.

Carol's horse drew up beside Alice's. Apparently her mother had a bit more experience with the animals than Alice remembered from her few, childhood pony rides.

"You're engaged? Where's the ring?" The questions were predictable, and were definitely a nice change from her mother's earlier dislike of anything having to do with Hatter.

Alice blushed slightly, and hid her hand. There was no ring there to show off; Hatter hadn't even asked her yet. She didn't even know if Hatter even liked the idea of marriage. Some people didn't think it was necessary, but after seeing how her mother had felt about her father, Alice knew that marriage was something that she wanted in her future. She just had to convince Hatter that he wanted it too.

"Well, we haven't really talked about it. But, I don't think I'd be happy with anyone else. They wouldn't understand this." Alice gestured around her with one hand, careful to keep the other on the reins. No matter if Alice had good or bad memories of Wonderland, it was a place that was now part of her. She couldn't change that fact. A person who hadn't been to this world could never hope to understand her.

But of course, that wasn't the only reason that she was with Hatter. She let herself imagine briefly what it would be like to wake up next to him every morning. But the feel of her mother's questioning gaze quickly squashed that fantasy.

"I suppose that I can understand that." They didn't say anything more until they came to the Casino.

---

It was a ruin. Alice remembered how it had looked when it fell, but the damage looked even greater now. Collapsed buildings tended to settle, to break further in the days that followed a disaster, Alice knew that from living in New York.

Pieces of armor and old bones lay scattered about the lawns. It was all that remained of Charlie's army of Knights. Alice wondered why no one had come and gathered them up to give them some sort of final resting place. Their bodies deserved that much after what had happened to them in life and how they had been used in death.

Then her eyes went back to the building.

"He was shot. Mom, he died making sure that he corrected some of what he got wrong." Alice wasn't even sure that her father had completely remembered her before his death. She would never know exactly how much of his attempt to save them had been based on his sense of duty, and how much of it had been because he loved her.

Alice hadn't allowed herself to mourn properly after her father's death. She had thrown herself into working on things with Hatter. But now, as the two women knelt in the rubble, with only a Suit to watch over them, both of them were finally able to let go.

---

"What do you mean 'they've gone'?" asked Hatter, worry tingeing his voice. His hat was in his hands and the brim was getting slightly bent by the pressure that he was exerting on it. Duchess had met him at the doors of cROOKed with this little piece of news.

"Alice and Carol went through the Glass. I'm not exactly sure why, but neither of them looked happy." Duchess didn't look happy either. Her hands were once again in the defensive position over her belly, and Hatter wondered if she was thinking of the baby's father.

Hatter sighed with exasperation and shoved his hat back on his head.

"Why does she have to keep running off like this?" He knew the answer. When Alice had a plan, she followed it whole heartedly, it was kind of cute, in an it's-going-to-get-her-killed-someday type of way.

"Well, I guess you're in charge here then. I can't have them off gallivanting around Wonderland without someone to make sure they don't get into trouble." Even if he wasn't on speaking terms with Carol right now, he understood that there were dangers in Wonderland that neither of the women knew of.

The first thing that he was going to do when he got to the other side was get a gun. One never knew when they would come in handy when chasing down Alice on one of her adventures.

He looked around. It would be foolish to bring anyone else with him, even if he wouldn't mind having Hart and Fowler at his back during a fight.

"Everything's to go normally while I'm gone." He ordered, hoping that for once Duchess would obey.

She nodded, looking just as concerned as he felt.

"Just hurry up and find them. And, if you see Jack, tell him I expect some kind of support for this baby." Duchess's comment had the desired effect of lightening both their moods.

Hatter went into his office and closed the door, locking it behind him. The Looking Glass stood just where it always did, looking slightly foreboding despite all of his attempts to make it blend into the décor.

He stepped through the mirror, feeling the strange sensation of liquid glass sliding over his skin.

---

**AN:**

Ok. Alice, Hatter and Carol are all back in Wonderland, leaving Duchess to run cROOKed. I'm going to have to start doing Duchess point of view to keep us updated on what's happening in our world, while everyone else runs around.

I'm having way too much fun with this fic. Can't you tell?

I'm looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about this chapter.


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